Second Opportunity
by jeed
Summary: -Discontinued. May be continued in the future. I'm working in a better story- Harry returns to Earth during the seventh year after his Jedi training intending to finish Voldemort. Alt. Dimension. RWHG/GWOC/JPLE/SBOC. R&R p
1. Arrival

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Harry Potter and everything recognizable belongs to J K Rowling.

**Chapter 1. Arrival**

A young Jedi was training in one of the private compartments of a Republican Space cruiser that was rapidly approaching the Earth. He was too concentrated in dodging the small laser shots a small flying orb threw at him, that he failed to acknowledge the man that had entered the room. This second man, waited for a few minutes, watching in wonder the smooth and precise movements of the Jedi's Lightsaber. When the Jedi seemed to take a break, he coughed lightly to announce his presence.

"Yes Alan?" he asked without even looking at him.

"Master Potter. Your presence is requested in the main cabin." said the man.

"Thank you Alan. I'll be there in a sec." replied the Jedi.

When the man was gone, the Jedi gathered all of his training gear and ordered a protocol android to take it to his chamber. He made way to the cabin after that, passing through several compartments filled with the necessary equipment for a galactic journey. When he arrived he was greeted by the Commander.

"Master Potter, we have begun our final approach to the Earth. No problems so far. Only a couple of artificial satellites on our way as well as a light magnetic storm." announced the Commander of the ship.

"When may I exit the ship, Commander?"

"We should be in orbit in approximately six minutes."

"Thanks Commander. I'll be in my transport, waiting for my clearance."

"Goodbye then, Master Potter."

"Goodbye Commander Owen. Don't wait for me. Your orders are to return to Coruscant."

"As you wish Master Potter."

Harry headed down to the main hangar, where his Jedi fighter waited for him surrounded by a small group of people preparing it for the journey. Through his transponder he contacted the same android that had obeyed him before and told him to get all his belongings to his fighter. He had been away from the Earth since the terrible events that took place at the start of his fifth year at Hogwarts, were everybody he had known or loved had died at hands of a small army of Death Eaters led by Voldemort himself that had intruded the school. That night, he lost everything and everyone. All of his friends were slaughtered. Sirius, Remus, Hermione, Neville, the entire Weasley family, Dumbledore, the list was never ending. Only a couple of Order members had survived. He had managed to escape from Voldemort's clutches. Remus and his godfather died guarding the entrance to the tunnel that lead to Honeydukes while he escaped. For some weeks he managed not to get caught by Voldemort or his followers, who were searching the entire Britain, looking for him, until one night he was approached by a small green creature that he had never seen before. He later learned that this creature's name was Yoda and that he formed part of the Jedi Order. After several hours of conversation Harry accepted Yoda's offer to be trained in the Jedi Arts. For a couple of years he was trained in the Jedi Arts, in Coruscant, the capital planet of the Galactic Republic. He was anxious to leave. He was now returning to his 'home' planet, which for Harry was nothing more than an enormous piece of rock floating around the Galaxy. He had sworn never to set foot again here, but he had a mission to complete. In fact, it was the first mission that the Jedi Council had assigned him. Kill Voldemort and fulfil his destiny and the damned Prophecy. Once that was done, he would never return.

Once the android had placed all of his belongings correctly into his ship he climbed into the cockpit and checked all systems before he requested permission for take-off.

"R2, start an overall check for all systems."

The droid responded in a pattern of strange sounds.

"Alpha One, this is Jedi One, do you copy?"

"Copy Jedi One."

"All communications are in order as every other system. I request permission for take-off, Alpha One."

"De-activating magnetic shield. You're clear to take-off Jedi One."

"Thanks Alpha One." He replied. " R2 de-activate auto-pilot. You know I fly manually." He said to the droid in a mocking voice. "We are heading to Hogsmeade, the village near Hogwarts. Look for somewhere we can land without drawing attention to ourselves." And with that he took off the space cruiser and began his descent towards the Earth, towards Hogwarts.

.oOo.

Inside the creepy manor that stood on the hill beside the Muggle town of Little Hangleton a large number of people were sitted around an enormous table, listening respectfully to the only one who was standing. His face was pale and resembled that of a snake. His eyes were red and he had nostrils only. No nose. This man was the most feared and most powerful Dark Wizard that had ever existed. He was Lord Voldemort. Some of his followers looked at him devotedly, others with great fear in their eyes.

"Is everything in place, Lucius?" said Voldemort to one of the men he had closest.

"All is in place, My Lord. We are awaiting your orders." He replied.

"Very well. Antonin, you'll lead the attack. But remember, only mudbloods and any other blood traitors who attempt to protect them."

"Yes My Lord. As you wish." replied Antonin Dolohov.

"And remember what happens if you fail me...".

.oOo.

"So tell me Moony. How was your first week at work?" asked James Potter to his friend Remus Lupin while they made their way through the streets of Hogsmeade. He had started working at the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, at the beginning of that week.

"Good God Prongs, you don't imagine how creative they can be. They've placed me at their 'Mischief Research Department'. It seems if have some experience in that." The werewolf said making his friend chuckle lightly.

"What are you researching exactly?"

"New prank items. I have to develop them. I have to find a way to make sure that any ideas those two redheads come up with will actually work."

"So what are you working on now?"

"Sorry. Can't tell you. Those Weasley's have a charm in place so we don't slip any ideas to the public." the werewolf told his friend. "Sorry, business competition and all that." He added when he saw James look of disappointment.

"Well then make sure to tell me about them the moment you start selling them."

"Why? You thinking about pranking the whole Auror Corps?"

"No. After what happened the first time I tried I'm in no hurry to do it again. Anyway, if I know what's on the market I know what I can expect from Sirius and Jack."

"Well at least Claire didn't turn out a troublemaker like his brother."

"Yeah. That would be hell." James groaned and Remus chuckled at the thought of his fellow Marauder being pranked by his own two children.

"By the way, is Padfoot coming?" James asked.

"Yeah. I talked with him this morning. He said he'd meet us at noon at Rosmerta's."

"I still don't get why we're meeting here in a Hogwarts Hogsmeade weekend. Any other weekend would be less crowded. Besides I don't have any desire of seeing my daughter snogging someone." Remus chuckled and answered him.

"I'm absolutely sure that the desire is mutual. And this is the only day we can get to see each other. You know that we all..." Remus stopped talking and sat up with a concentrated expression glancing sideways.

"What's wrong Moony?" asked James alarmed, knowing about Remus' enhanced hearing and smelling.

"Something's just not... right." Remus replied quietly.

Remus' suspicions were confirmed when they heard a piercing scream and commotion coming from the village which was now a couple of hundred feet away. They ran to the source of the screams and a horrible sight met their eyes. A small army of cloaked men had apparated into Hogsmeade and was now attacking everyone. Older students soon started duelling with them. The younger ones, scared, ran providing the cloaked men moving targets.

"Death Eaters!" exclaimed James, pulling out his wand. "We have to find Padfoot!"

.oOo.

Harry soared through the sky above the mountains near Hogwarts, being able to see some of the towers the castle had. _'That's odd'_ Harry thought. The last time he had been here was when the castle was attacked, and he remembered clearly how the castle had been reduced to ashes. But now, the castle was as astonishing as it had once been. _'Maybe they just rebuilt it'_.

A few minutes later the Jedi fighter landed on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, in a clearing several hundred feet from the village. Harry got out and removed a small purse from his belt. He extracted four gems from it and placed them around his fighter, creating a square. This was one of Harry's finest spellwork. The four stones protected anything or anyone inside it's perimeter with a powerful Fidelius charm that had it's only weak point at its top. Anyone standing several feet away from the Fidelius wouldn't see through, but anyone flying over a hundred meters while being inside the perimeter the stones marked, would be able to spot him. Harry called it the 'Mobile Fidelius'.

"Wards activated R2. Stay here. I'm gonna have a look around."

.oOo.

He hadn't walked ten feet when he heard the screams. He paused for a moment to check if he had heard all right. There was another scream followed by many others. Harry ran through the forest towards the screams. He summoned his Lightsaber out of his holster as a natural instinct. He stopped at the tree line to evaluate the situation. Many cloaked figures were attacking children and adults alike. These men wore silver masks. _'Death Eaters!'_. Some people were running for their lives in middle of the chaos. Others were duelling them. There were also some Aurors in the fight, and they seemed to be the only ones that were able to hold their ground. He turned his attention to a skilled Death Eater who had overpowered and pinned into the ground a middle-aged man who, had Harry looked closer, he would have recognized. Without giving it a second thought, Harry charged towards the Death Eater who was now pointing his wand to the helpless man on the ground. With practiced ease, he drew his Lightsaber and cut off the Death Eater's wand arm with a smooth blow before the masked man could cast the Killing curse. The Death Eater cried in pain, making the other Death Eaters notice him. As a result two of them approached him and they both casted Unforgivables at him. Harry dodged the first one thanks to his formidable Jedi reflexes and he swung his saber into the path of the second one directing the green curse in the opposite way it had come. It hit the Death Eater in the chest, killing him instantly. Reaching into the Force, Harry got rid of the second one, throwing him into two other Death Eaters who were duelling in group. Two of them fell, giving their opponents the chance to stun them easily. The third one was also stunned in the next few seconds. Harry sensed another curse coming its way from behind. He didn't move fast enough and a bolt of energy hit his right hand, making him drop the Lightsaber and producing a pretty deep cut. He turned and faced a green jet coming his way. He instinctively reached into the Force and grabbed a Death Eater nearby and summoned him into the path of the Killing curse. He fell immediately. Without giving his enemies the chance to strike again, he performed a spectacular jump and landed between the two enemies that had tried to kill him. He disarmed them the 'Muggle' way. In less than ten seconds both Death Eaters were laying unconscious on the ground. Harry, never letting his guard down, observed the battlefield and saw the remaining Death Eaters dissaparating with soft pops in the air. He checked his wound on his right arm and began healing it by placing his hand over it. He looked around when he sensed an uncomfortable silence. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Many people that Harry knew where dead were staring at him. In fact he had seen many of them die. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, Alastor Moody… And on the distance he saw approaching Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin and a man he certainly did know he was dead. His father. They were all there and seemed to be well and they didn't seem to recognize him. _'This can't be… It's not possible.' _Some of the people glanced at him in awe. Others were startled by the coldness and that he had exhibited during the combat, and had their wands trained on him. He turned to get his Lightsaber with the intention of getting out of there to study the situation at ease. He was startled again when he saw Sirius Black, his godfather holding his Lightsaber and eyeing him and it, with an incredulous look.

"May I have it back?" he asked hurriedly, wanting to get away as soon as possible. Sirius lifted the weapon towards its owner with a grateful look and still in shock.

"Thanks." Harry said annoyed. He placed his weapon back in his belt holster and started walking backwards maintaining eye contact with the supposedly dead people.

"Wait." Albus Dumbledore called with a glint of command in his voice. But Harry didn't stop. As soon as he reached the tree line he walked into the shadows, back to his Jedi fighter.

"Kingsley, Nymphadora, James…." said the Headmaster. With that the three Aurors ran towards the forest.

"James take the left flank, Tonks you take the right. I'll go down the centre. If someone reaches him send a Patronus." called out Kingsley in a commanding voice as they ran towards the woods.

"Albus what are you doing?" questioned McGonagall.

"We need to interrogate him. He's displayed a brutality that equals any high ranking Death Eater. He might be dangerous."

"But he was on our side. You're not supposed to hunt down our allies for questioning."

"We don't know for sure. For all I know he could have been only defending himself."

.oOo.

Lily Potter was sitting in her quarters going through her students essays. She had started teaching Charms when her former teacher, Professor Flitwick had retired last year. When she graduated from school she had applied to work at the Ministry as a Charm Designer. After many years Flitwick had proposed to take her as an apprentice to fill his vacant once he retired the next year. She finally got to the last essay of the pile, which was of course the one handed by her daughter. She always marked her children's essays the first ones. That way it was easier not comparing with the rest of them. While Claire was a sixth year and was a good student, like her mother had been. His brother Jack, who was in seventh and last year had taken after his father. It was not a surprise having the Marauders as father, Godfather and honorary Uncle. Lily was finishing the corrections on Claire's essay when her fireplace erupted in green flames and Madam Pompfrey's head appeared on the fire.

"Lily I need your help. There's been an attack on Hogsmeade. I need all the help I can get."

"Poppy!" Lily cried out, but it was too late. The healer had already disappeared from the fireplace. '_Oh Merlin! Jack, Claire and James were there! Let them be okay.'_

She stormed out of her office and ran to the Hospital Wing ignoring questions and comments from the many students wandering the corridors. She got there and pushed open violently the doors.

"Don't worry Lily. Your children and husband are all right." the school's Mediwitch said to a pale looking Lily.

"Ok….Ok. Thank Merlin!" she said calming herself. "What can I do?"

"The wounded will start arriving any moment. Use those basic diagnosis spells on the ones I'm not tending to and divide them according to the seriousness of their injuries."

"Ok."

.oOo.

Harry could hear hurried steps coming in his direction. It wasn't as if they would find him, for they couldn't see through the wards that were currently disguising his whereabouts. Three figures stepped out of three different spots of the tree line and into the clearing where he had landed. Harry eyed them curiously, knowing they couldn't see him. A thousand unanswered questions went through his mind. _'How are they alive? Is this an illusion? Is it Voldemort's doing? Did he know I was coming? Have I gone insane?' _When they left Harry turned towards his transport and ordered his android to communicate him with the Jedi Temple at Coruscant. A slightly transparent blue tridimensional man appeared over a small metallic plaque that he had in his hand.

"Ah, Master Potter. I hope that you have arrived well." said a holographic image of Harry's mentor, the Jedi Master Mace Windu.

"Yeah I've arrived here with any major complications. But Master, there's something strange going on around here."

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen people that I know for sure that they're dead. People I saw die with my own eyes are alive and well. One of them even talked to me, and he didn't seem to know me at all."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. When I saw them I freaked out and walked back to the fighter. One of them, my former Headmaster asked me to wait, to talk to them. I didn't want to say anything before I talked with you Master."

"Wise move. Any chance they were under disguises?"

"No I think not. Besides, they looked surprised to see me. Nobody knew I was coming. When I arrived to Hogsmeade there was an attack taking place. There's no way all of that could have been staged. There's definitely something wrong here."

"Okay Potter. I will inform the Council and we will get back to you. Until then, stay under the radar and see what you can find out. And stay away from them, whoever they are. Don't let yourself be caught."

"Don't worry. I'm not that easy to find if I don't want to be caught."

"We'll contact you as soon as possible. May the Force be with you Harry."

"And with you Master."

He ended the transmission and sat in silence in his cockpit, meditating his potions and what his next steps should be. _'I need information, and there's no place better for that than Diagon Alley.'_

.oOo.

"Get them out of here." said Voldemort to one of his servants, signaling towards the two unconscious Death Eaters that laid in front of him. They were the unfortunate duo that had informed the Dark Lord about their failed raid in Hogsmeade, and they had been tortured for it. This news had angered and worried Voldemort. If this stranger joined the Light side he would be an enemy to fear. All of his Death Eaters already knew and feared his magnificent skills with that bizarre weapon. He would join the Dark Lord or die. A door opened to his left, and Bellatrix Lestrange came into the room.

"I want you to set up a team and look for him. When you find him, if you find him, don't approach him. Just keep an eye on him."

"As you wish, my Lord."

.oOo.

"How many casualties?" asked the Headmaster in a collected tone later that evening during the meeting at Grimmauld Place.

"Three dead, four more are critical and about a dozen with minor injuries." answered Lily with watery eyes. Everybody stayed silent for a few moments, taking in the losses. Finally, Frank Longbottom looked up.

"So what now?"

"We should wait and see how the situa…" started Dumbledore.

"So we do as always right? Sit around and do nothing until he attacks again!" James Potter said, his voice rising in anger every moment.

"James please…" Lily tried to calm down his husband.

"No!" he started again. "Every time he attacks we fight back but that's not enough Albus. If we continue this way he'll always be ahead of us."

"He's right Albus. We should consider other strategies." Moody said.

"And what do you exactly propose Potter?" Snape asked sneering.

"Let's get all the Death Eaters we know. Malfoy, Goyle, MacNair, Rockwood. Let's get them. I'd bet my ass they know where his Headquarters are." James said.

"That won't work." answered Kingsley. "All his Inner Circle Death Eaters come from pure-blood families who have a small fortune at the very least. With that money they have Fudge in his pocket. And Fudge's so blind that he has even dispatched Aurors to protect their homes from Death Eaters. We attack someone like Malfoy and all we would get out of it would be a one-way ticket to Azkaban."

"How about junior Death Eaters?" asked Bill Weasley.

"That won't work either." Snape said. "The Dark Lord only reveals the location of his headquarters to his Inner Circle members, and he makes them pronounce the Unbreakable Vow before he tells them. So the junior Death Eaters simply don't know and the Inner Circle won't tell under any circumstance."

"What about Legilimency. If we manage to capture one of them…" Sirius proposed.

"Won't work either." Snape continued. "The nature of the Unbreakable Vow ensures that the secret is kept that way. I could intrude Malfoy's mind but when I was about to find out, his mind would collapse as a safety measure, killing him… and whoever intrudes his mind."

"I think we should discuss other things." Dumbledore told them. Everybody looked at him curiously. "For example, this third player that has appeared."

"What are you talking about Albus?" Lily and Alice asked.

"I think you should see it yourselves. After we'll discuss it if we need to." He said taking out his pensieve.

One by one they entered the pensieve and landed in Hogsmeade where the battle was already happening. Dumbledore guided them were the mysterious boy had appeared. They waited for a few moments and watched Sirius engaged in a fierce duel with Antonin Dolohov. The people who hadn't been present before gasped when they saw the Death Eater preparing to use the Killing Curse after successfully disarming and knocking Sirius to the ground. Suddenly a line of blue energy appeared from nowhere and sliced the Death Eater's wand arm, saving Sirius' live. They watched in awe as the stranger deflected with ease the Killing Curse. When the boy finally disappeared after Dumbledore's failed attempt to question him, the memory faded and they found themselves again in the common room of the Order's Headquarters.

"Why did he leave?" asked Alice.

"We don't know. After the memory fades I sent Kingsley, James and Nymphadora after him."

"We didn't find him." Tonks provided.

"You'll all agree we have to find out more about him. I assume that this display of power has already reached Voldemort who will try and recruit him or more likely kill him and get him out of his way. I think we shouldn't let any of those things happen."

"You want to recruit a kid?" Lily asked. "He can't older than my son."

"I know Lily, but we could use a powerful ally like him. We must find him." Dumbledore said.

"The Ministry is also looking for him for questioning. Malfoy is already using his influence to put him in Azkaban." Kingsley added.

"Then it's crucial that we find him before they do. I've already warned Madam Rosmerta, and Tom, at the Leaky Cauldron. They'll tell me if they see anyone matching the description."

"He should be very dumb to show up somewhere public. If he's a bit clever he'll know we'll be looking for him." said Kingsley.

"Then we must hope he commits that mistake." answered Dumbledore. "Now some of us have a dinner to attend."

.oOo.

"From what the twins gathered from the meeting he isn't with the Order or the Ministry." said Ronald Weasley to his best friends Jack Potter and Neville Longbottom, while they were heading to the Great Hall for dinner.

"And he isn't with Voldemort either as he fought the Death Eaters." Jack Potter added.

"So he isn't with Voldemort, the Ministry or the Order. How many more options does that leave us?" Neville frowned.

"Very few. Maybe he's a mercenary." Ron proposed.

"Maybe. But hired by who? I mean the only ones that could hire a mercenary would be the Ministry and the twins already told us he isn't with them." Neville said.

"The Ministry could have hired him secretly. You remember how the public reacted when the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement suggested granting the Aurors the full use of Unforgivables without restriction?" explained Jack. He continued when he saw his friends didn't understand. "Think about it. Fudge hires him secretly. He fights for the Ministry using all the means denied to the Aurors."

"Like the Unforgivables…" realized Neville.

"Yeah. Fudge gets it his way without angering the public as there would be no proof he's working under his orders."

"That makes sense…" Ron said. "But I doubt Fudge has the balls to do that."

"Maybe it isn't Fudge. It only takes someone with power and money enough. Maybe someone from the Wizengamot, like…" Jack suggested.

"Like Dumbledore?" Neville interrupted.

"He certainly does have the means to do so. But I don't think so. He voted against giving the Aurors the right to use Unforgivables and you know he believes that those scum can turn to the light if given a second opportunity." Ron explained.

"Yeah. Like the greasy git." Jack added.

"Hey guys!" a female voice interrupted them when they were just outside the Great Hall. They turned and saw three girls approaching them. They were Ginny Weasley, Claire Potter and Hermione Granger.

"Hi." The three boys chorused.

"What have you find out?" Hermione asked.

"The twins told us he isn't with the Ministry, the Order or Voldemort." Jack stated.

"Well at least officially." Ron added.

"What do you mean with 'officially'?" Ginny asked.

"We have several theories regarding who this guy is…" started Jack

"And…" Claire urged.

"According to Jack he works secretly for the Ministry. Someone who does the dirty job that needs to be kept out of the books." Neville stated.

"Where the hell did you get that rubbish from?" Hermione laughed making Jack turn red. He didn't have time to respond because that moment Dumbledore rose from his chair and all conversations stopped.

.oOo.

Meanwhile, a couple of miles away in the village of Hogsmeade, a dark haired boy entered the Three Broomsticks. He wore a brown cloak and had the hood on, but still revealing his face and part of his hair. He sat alone in a table and he drank a butterbeer while reading a copy from the Daily Prophet. The owner of the pub eyed him mysteriously, the words of Albus Dumbledore echoing in her mind. _'Can this be the boy Albus told me about?'_ she thought for several minutes while observing the stranger. When he finally decided on informing Dumbledore the boy left the table and walked towards her.

"Good evening Madam. I'd like to rent a room here if there are any available." The stranger announced.

"Good evening. How long will your stay be?" Rosmerta asked.

"A couple of weeks, at most."

"We have only one bedroom left. Third floor, last door on the right. " she said while looking at the bookings list.

"That's fine with me."

"Ok. I'll need a name then. And a payment in advance for the first three days."

"My name is Harry Cooper." He answered handing a handful of Galleons to the woman.

"I'm Rosmerta. Come on. I'll show you to your room."

.oOo.

Dumbledore sat tiredly in his office. It had been a really long day. The attack during the afternoon, the aftermath of the skirmish, the Order meeting and lastly the mourning for the lost ones during the fight had exhausted him. Truth is that his speech in the Great Hall in memory of the fallen had been brief. They had gone through many attacks like this and Dumbledore had stopped a long time ago assuring the students that they were safe and that all would be all right. He, in all honesty couldn't assure the safety of the students anymore. The attacks grew bolder and nastier each time so now, he limited his speech to the few words of comfort for those who had lost someone.

Dumbledore was starting to grow tired of this war. Voldemort's forces grew at an alarming rate and the Light side was weak. Few people fought openly against Voldemort. It was only a matter of time before Voldemort took control of the Ministry and the population knew it. People were scared of defying Voldemort openly, knowing that he would eventually become the new Minister, with an army of Aurors to do his bidding. But there were some who resisted, like the Potters, the Weasleys, the Longbottoms and several other light families.

Suddenly the fireplace in the room beside the office erupted in green flames, startling him momentarily and disrupting his thoughts. A woman's face appeared and started calling for the Headmaster. Upon recognizing Madam Rosmerta's voice, he prayed that the stranger had been found, and he practically ran to the fireplace.

"Albus!?...Albus Dumbledore!"

"Yeah! Yeah I'm here Rosmerta."

"Thank Merlin Albus. The boy you told me about. He came by."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes. About seventeen or eighteen years old. Dark hair and green eyes. Strange brown cloak. He wore his hood on."

"Yeah sounds like him. When did he come?"

"Not twenty minutes ago. He's rented a room. He told me he didn't want to be disturbed until tomorrow. He went up when he arrived and he hasn't come down."

"Very well Rosmerta. I'll be there immediately. I suggest you close for the night. It might get messy."

"Already did."

"Ok. See you in a minute."

"Please hurry." she finished and her head disappeared from the fireplace.

Dumbledore didn't waste any time and threw a handful of Floo Powder at the fire place. He contacted James Potter and Kingsley Shacklebolt and as soon as they were all ready they flooed to the Three Broomsticks. The pub was empty, as Rosmerta had promised. She led them quietly to the landing of the third floor and raised her finger indicating the room the strange teenage boy had booked. The light glimmering under the door hadn't extinguished and occasionally some shadows were seen passing in front of it. Dumbledore nodded towards Madam Rosmerta and she disappeared through the stairs.

"James. Erect some anti-apparition wards." Dumbledore whispered. James Potter started waving his wand in a complex pattern and he only nodded to show that they were up. He then moved towards the door and checked for any locking spells. He found some. Nothing a simple Alohomora charm couldn't deal with. When he had finished dealing with it he gave his colleagues a thumbs up.

"We go in on three. Ready?" Dumbledore whispered taking position beside the door. They nodded.

"One…"

Kingsley took out his wand and aimed it at the door.

"Two…"

James placed his hand in the doorknob.

"Three…"

He opened it violently and Kingsley charged in followed by Dumbledore and James.

"This is the Aurors! Stay were you…" Kingsley yelled upon entering. He paused just having trespassed the doorway.

.oOo.

Harry walked towards the table where his recently-bought-at-the -Three-Broomsticks bottle of Firewhiskey was. He opened it and let the characteristic smell of the beverage overwhelm him. He conjured a glass with two chunks of ice and poured himself a glass, and then he sat down in the couch and grabbed the Daily Prophet with the intention of finding out something more. So far he hadn't found any mention of his name, which was strange because he was the Boy Who Lived, and a few years ago, prior to his galactic escape, he would usually appear in the paper nearly every single day, be it in the front lines or in a small article, but he usually appeared in it. However in this one, or the one the day before, absolutely nothing had been printed that had to do with him. A small alarm went off that made him stop reading.

He smiled.

That was the signal he was waiting for. The Order had entered his booked room at the Three Broomsticks, and whoever it was, probably Dumbledore and someone else, had only found an empty room. The first step in his plan had worked out. Probably they would centre their attention in the Three Broomsticks now, waiting for him to go back and retrieve a fake wand and a couple more objects he had left behind to create the illusion that he had the intention of staying there. Meanwhile Diagon Alley wouldn't be as watched as Hogsmeade and certainly no one would find him where he was really staying, the Shrieking Shack. After having meditated his first steps a while after the battle, he had come here and made the attic comfortable enough to live in, and safe enough not to be disturbed by anyone. He would be under Dumbledore's nose all the time until he discovered what the hell was going on. He knew he would have to vacate the building during the full moon just in case, but he really hoped it wouldn't come to that. He expected to receive news from the Jedi Temple in a couple of weeks at most. Full moon was three weeks away.


	2. Information

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Harry Potter and everything recognizable belongs to J K Rowling.

**Chapter 2. Information **

Lily Potter woke up the next morning with a jump. A nightmare had interrupted her sleep. The type of nightmare she used to have during the following months after the attack the Potters had suffered by Death Eaters during Halloween 1981. She used her Occlumency skills to clear her mind and prevent the terrible memories she held about that night, resurfacing to her mind. Once she was relaxed again, she noticed that his husband was missing from their bed. Probably he was already awake. She got out from bed and went directly to the shower.

Half an hour later she left her bedroom and stepped into the living room of her Hogwarts quarters, where she found her husband, sitting in the couch, giving his back to her.

"Hey honey." Lily said embracing him from behind.

"Morning Lils." he answered after having kissed her.

"You came late last night." she declared in a questioning tone.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn't want to wake you."

"What happened?" she asked, while sitting next to him, resting her head in his shoulder.

"Dumbledore called while I was about to leave the office. He had a location for that boy."

"Yesterday's boy? The one of the attack?"

"Yeah, that one. He's name is Cooper, by the way. Harry Cooper. Looks like he booked a room at the Three Broomsticks earlier this evening. Madam Rosmerta warned Dumbledore little after she gave him the room. When Kingsley, Dumbledore and I got there the room was empty."

"So? Maybe he just left for a while."

"Rosmerta assured us that he didn't come down. She had an employee watching the stairs." He paused and sighed. "I think he knew we would show up. He didn't go down the stairs and through the front door, but we obviously know that he left. So that means that he either left through the window or he fooled Rosmerta's employee, maybe with a glamour. Either way that can only mean that he wanted us to believe he'd be there."

"Couldn't he have simply apparated away?"

"No. All inns keep anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards in all their rooms."

"What does Dumbledore think?"

"He thinks that he'll eventually go back to the Three Broomsticks. We found a wand and a shrunken broomstick in the room. An expensive one, the broom. That makes Dumbledore think he'll go back to retrieve them."

"Maybe he's right. I can't picture you or Jack abandoning your brooms like that." she said smiling.

"Yeah. But I wouldn't be surprised if both items are fake. I told Dumbledore that all this could be a diversionary tactic, so now we have Order members watching the Three Broomsticks, and in a lesser amount, the rest of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. But enough of Order business. How are you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep." she replied with a haunted look in her eyes that her husband quickly saw. He gazed at her with a questioning look, urging Lily to tell him what was bothering her.

"It's nothing James." she almost snapped. She knew he wanted to help, but she wasn't prepared to tell him that his long gone nightmares about Halloween 1981 had returned. He had suffered too, so she didn't want to bring up the topic. "Come on. Let's go and have some breakfast."

.oOo.

The Great Hall was abuzz with its Sunday morning chatter, the Hogsmeade trip and the events that took place there were the hot topics for the day. The six Gryffindors crossed its doors and took their usual spot on their House's table. Ron, Hermione and Neville sat together, with Ginny, Jack and Claire across the table. They were in for a late breakfast. They liked eating all together, so the girls and Neville had waited until the other two woke up to make their way there.

"So I thought we could all go to the library when we're finished here. We have lots of homework to catch up on." Hermione started eagerly, looking around at his friends. Jack turned to look at Ron who returned his gaze. They turned back to Hermione.

"Not likely." they responded at the unison.

"Yeah. They've already made plans." Neville added.

"What plans?" questioned Claire with a knowing look.

"Nothing you should worry about little sis." Jack teased her.

"You're sneaking into Hogsmeade again aren't you?" Ginny questioned with a smile.

"No!" cried Jack at the same time Ron said yes. They looked at each other, and Jack smacked the back of Ron's head in mock outrage.

"Ok yes. We are going to Hogsmeade." he then admitted.

"YOU CAN'T GO TO HOGSMEADE! YOU'LL GET EXPELLED!" Hermione hissed at them.

"That's what I told them..." Neville announced.

"That's if we're caught, my dear friends. So we expect you girls to keep your mouths shut." Ron said and Jack nodded.

"Don't worry about that, because we're going with you." The two girls replied to their brothers.

"Oh... No, no, no! Definitely not" Jack and Ron started.

"Yes we are!" said Claire and Ginny.

"No!" added Hermione attempting to prevent them all from going. She was ignored.

"Why are you going anyway?" Ginny asked the boys.

"With the attack and all we didn't have time to get everything we needed yesterday." Ron lied and Jack just dropped his head in the table in disbelief.

"So you're going to get a couple of things you couldn't buy yesterday?" Claire said.

"Yeah." Ron confirmed.

"Today?" she continued.

"Yes...Why are you all looking at me like that?" Ron asked confused by everyone's expressions.

"You really need to work on your excuses..." Ginny said holding back a giggle.

"But we are really..." Ron started but Jack smacked the back of his head for the second time in less than five minutes.

"Hey, what was that for?" Ron protested.

"Do you really think they're gonna believe we're going to shop a couple of things on a Sunday? WHEN ALL SHOPS ARE CLOSED?!"

"Oh..." was the only thing Ron said before blushing embarrassedly.

"So why are you really going?" asked Claire looking pointedly at her brother.

"Private business."

"And that would be...?" Ginny and Claire urged.

"As I said, nothing you should worry about."

"Well, if it's nothing we should worry about you won't mind if we come with you..." Claire said.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Ron said.

"Definitely not." Jack added almost instantly.

"Why not?" Claire asked glaring at them.

"For starters the cloak isn't big enough to hide four people." Jack explained.

"Then let us use the cloak. You're seventh years, you can surely manage glamour spells by now." Ginny replied sharply.

"No way! The cloak is mine. You want to come along, you use the glamours." Jack replied.

"The cloak's not yours. It's Dad's! I have the same right to use it as you do."

"Must I remind you who found it at the bottom of that trunk in the storage room that was all covered in dust?" he replied managing to silence her.

"Ok. We'll use the glamours then." Ginny said in defeat. "But we're certainly going."

Hermione was about to try and talk his friends out of it but before she could even start there was a rustling of feathers as owls streamed into the room with newspapers and mail in tow. Two owls landed in front of Hermione. One delivered the Daily Prophet straight from the press, while the other one carried a muggle newspaper that her parents sent her every day. The front page of the Prophet caught everybody's attention. A boy no older than them, appeared in a photograph, deflecting curses with something that resembled a stick, or a sword by the way it was clutched in his hands.

_HOGSMEADE ATTACKED! UNKNOWN HERO SAVES MANY!_

By Rita Skeeter

_Yesterday at noon the Wizarding Village of Hogsmeade, adjacent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was attacked by a large force of Death Eaters. The Ministry has discarded the attack as random, as it took place during a Hogsmeade weekend for Hogwarts students. The Death Eaters made no distinction during the raid, attacking adults and students alike, using the same ferocity and cruelty. The Aurors arrived at the scene a few minutes after the attack had started. They proceeded to battle away the Death Eaters with difficulties. That is, until an unknown third party arrived at the scene and joined the fight siding with the Light. Through many witnesses we've been able to learn that he killed two of them, incapacitated three more, and helped capture another three, alone. It has been a long time since a major demonstration of violence has been shown by a Light Fighter so the public is now concerned. Those who voted in favour of the use of Unforgivables by Aurors are outraged that someone displays the cruelty that the other voters wanted to prevent without consequence when they lost the vote. The Ministry has placed an arrest order for this mysterious fighter. We should ask ourselves, dear Minister, if we're going to arrest every person who stands up for the Light with something more than simple disarming and stunning spells. If it wasn't for him, the three who didn't survive and the four at St. Mungo's, would only be a tiny part of yesterday's casualty list._

"Wow guys. This bloke looks an awful lot like your father." Ron observed looking back and forth between the front page and the Potter siblings.

"Can we see it Hermione?" they asked, Jack extending his hand towards her. She reluctantly gave it to them.

"What did the article say 'Mione?" Ron asked.

"The Ministry wants to arrest him." Hermione explained.

"Arrest him? Why?" Neville asked, shocked.

"I suppose it doesn't look good for the Ministry that after the Wizengamot bans the use of Unforgivables someone comes along and does more damage than an Auror using them." Claire said.

"So that crushes down our mercenary hired by Fudge theory then." Jack said to his dorm mates who nodded in return.

"Let's hope the Order catches him soon and all this is explained." voiced Hermione, going back to the Prophet.

"Yeah, if Dumbledore manages to recruit him the war could change its course." Ginny added.

"Ok guys. I'm heading to the library. I've lots of work to do. See you later." Neville cut in when they all had finished their breakfast. "You coming Hermione?"

"Yeah, I have _important_ things to do." she answered him with a reproachful look directed at the other two boys.

"So when are we leaving?" Claire asked when they were gone.

"Must I remind you that you're not coming?" Ron said annoyed.

"We'll follow you then..." Ginny countered.

"Ok, can you let us discuss it for a moment girls?" Jack said. He moved several feet away with Ron in tow.

"Discuss what Jack?" said Ron angrily. "They're not coming. If someone knows we have been sneaking out of the castle not only to Hogsmeade but to London as well we'll be in serious trouble."

"Mate I think we could persuade them if we threaten them with what they like most, and they can only get from us..."

"You mean the Firewhiskey?" Jack nodded.

"Good idea mate." he complimented grinning.

"Ok girls. We have a proposition." Ron said, calling them over. "You don't come with us and your Firewhiskey supply won't be affected. You try and follow us today, and you won't get a single drop, ever. And you know that we are the cheapest source of alcohol in all Hogwarts." Ron smirked, satisfied.

"And we'll know if you're following us." Jack added waving the Marauder's Map with his hand.

"Sounds more like blackmail to me." Claire said angrily.

"Yeah, I think we can forget these pricks and go get some Firewhiskey ourselves." Ginny added.

"Good luck with that. It's Sunday as you cleverly pointed out, so the liquor shops are closed. That leaves you the Hog's Head and the Three Broomsticks, which have strict orders from Dumbledore not to sell alcohol to students. Even in the unlikely case they didn't notice you as students, you already know you must pass an age charm to get it." Jack said smirking.

"We'll get it from Malfoy then." Claire said sweetly making Jack and Ron go pale.

"You wouldn't dare go to... _him!_" Ron said.

"Try us." Ginny said coldly.

"He wouldn't sell it to you. We are his enemies. And so are you. He hates us all." Jack argued.

"You know he would. Are you forgetting what Malfoy's capable of to get the tiniest bit of money or power?" Claire said.

"He'd love to have some of _your_ most loyal customers buy _his_ Firewhiskey. In his eyes, it would be a personal victory over you. And you know how much he likes to gloat." Ginny added.

"Man, they're worse than the twins." Jack said with a pale face looking at his mate.

"Yeah, definitely." He answered never averting his glare from both girls.

"Maybe we could come to some sort of agreement?"

"We're listening..." Ginny said.

"Ten per cent off, for one month."

"Come on Gin. I think Malfoy may have a better offer." Claire said walking away, and dragging Ginny with her.

"Oi wait!" Ron said and turned to talk to Jack in whispers.

"Well?" Ginny said.

"Fifteen per cent off 'til Christmas." Ron announced. The girls started talking between them.

"Come on ladies. Our Firewhiskey is far better than Malfoy's. Besides, he can't afford to go that far. We know as a fact that he buys it at a higher price than we do."

"How do you know that?" Claire asked curiously.

"Malfoy and us have the same supplier..." Jack said.

"Does he know it?"

"No, he doesn't. That's the way he buys it at a higher price than us. We've known our supplier for a very long time, he's a good friend of us. And we could honestly say that he hates Malfoy, but for business' sake he supplies him with Firewhiskey. At our request he sells it to him at a higher price than us."

"If his supplier is your friend why don't you ask him to stop selling to Malfoy? He's your opposition after all."

"Malfoy's hardly our opposition. Our prices are far lower than his. All Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws are our customers. Malfoy only has the Slytherins, and they buy his because they fear him and his family."

"Well if you put him out of business they will come to you."

"We'll do that in a while. We were just using Malfoy to introduce his housemates to Firewhiskey. Slytherin has never been a house to throw parties. You know what Purebloods like Lucius Malfoy think about getting drunk."

"Then why did Malfoy start selling Firewhiskey. His father would kill him if he knows what he's doing." Ginny questioned.

"Malfoy only sells Firewhiskey out of jealousy and greed. He saw how well our business was going and he got jealous we were gaining large amounts of Galleons and he wasn't. At first he went to Snape. Well you already know about that. He didn't have any evidence against us thanks to the secrecy parchment we made you sign the first time you bought some alcohol. So Malfoy made a fool of himself in front of the greasy git. He started his own business. When our supplier informed us that Malfoy wanted to buy some alcohol from him we decided to let him introduce the snakes to parties. Once they're so used to them that they throw one each weekend as we do, we'll cut off his supply and we'll be the only suppliers at Hogwarts. All students will come to us, including Slytherins. We'll be able to set the prices we want and make very high profits."

"Are you sure you shouldn't be in Slytherin? That's a very cunning plan." Ginny suggested making the boys glare, and then beam at their compliment.

"Yes. It's rather clever." Claire agreed.

"So what do you say ladies? Fifteen per cent off 'til Christmas?" Ron asked.

"Twenty five. All year." Claire said.

"No." Ron replied indignantly.

"You want us to tell Malfoy all you've told us?" Ginny asked.

"Okay. Deal." Jack said after several seconds. Both girls grinned. "Mate we shouldn't have told them. What were we thinking?"

"I agree. They're definitely worse than Fred and George. We should get going Jack. It's getting late."

"Yes you're right. So we'll see you later girls."

"You're going to see him? Your supplier I mean." Claire questioned.

"Maybe..." Jack replied.

"Or maybe not..." Ron added, making the girls glare at him. "See you later!"

.oOo.

A medium sized man stopped in front of the large oak doors that lead to Riddle's Manor dining room. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, and he was decently built, as he had played Quidditch some years ago. His name was Walter Crux. At his sides two high ranking Death Eaters were escorting him to their Master. He took a deep breath, fearing what was about to happen. He had never been called by Lord Voldemort, at least not on his own. Truth is that he was terrified of the man, like many others who served him. He had only joined the Death Eater ranks out of peer pressure and because of the political situation. All people knew that the war would end soon and that Voldemort had the upper hand as the Light side had never been as weak as it was these days. So a while after he ended up joining his friends at Voldemort's army, hoping the war would end soon and that without drawing attention to himself he would be able to live a decent life when it all ended. But he had never expected to be called by his Master so soon. Although it was a great honour for many, this call crushed all his hopes. The low ranking Death Eaters feared his call because he would normally torture them in order to entertain himself, or he would send them in some type of impossible mission and then kill them when they failed. The very few that succeeded, were sent again and again in impossible missions until they were offered to join the Inner Circle. One way or another, low ranking Death Eaters were all cannon fodder. They weren't allowed to see him. Only his Inner Circle Death Eaters saw him regularly and knew about his whereabouts, thus the two men that had taken him to the Dark Lord's lair.

"Now listen here boy. Let me give you some advice." The large man on his right said. "You'll only talk when our Lord addresses you. You'll treat him respectfully and follow his orders painstakingly. You do that and perhaps we'll see you in the Inner Circle soon."

Crux nodded hesitantly, unsure of what to make of the man's words. He didn't know if he was giving his usual speech or if he was talking seriously. Either way, he had no desire to be part of the inner circle. That would only draw too much attention to himself. In the one hand, he would surely be in the Dark Lord's good graces if he completed successfully whatever mission that was assigned to him, especially if it was a tough one, but that would mean he would escalate in the wanted Death Eaters List from the Light side. On the other hand, if he failed, he would pay it with his life. Either way, his life was in great danger, the main thing he had wanted to avoid by joining the Death Eaters.

One of the Death Eaters that had taken him there knocked once on the doors. After several moments footsteps were heard at the other side of the doorway. Then the door opened quietly and a woman in her thirties appeared behind it. He knew very well who she was. She had been all over the papers many times these last years. She was a member of Voldemort's Inner Circle, and was the most fanatical servant the Dark Lord had at his service. Many rumoured that she shared her bed with him.

"Come on in. He's waiting for you." she said.

Crux straightened his robes and followed her inside, leaving the other two men outside the room. The woman led him through the large dining room and stopped beside a high door. She looked at him at then at the door. Crux didn't need to be told, inside that room the Dark Lord was waiting. He took another deep breath, opened the door and stepped into a small common room, full of armchairs and a couple of fireplaces. He inspected the room and suddenly his gaze froze when he saw Lord Voldemort sitting across the room. Nobody else was in the room, just the two of them. Crux immediately bowed.

"My Lord..."

"Come forward... Crux." He spat the last name. Crux obeyed and walked towards the dark wizard until he was a couple yards away. He then bowed again and kept that posture.

"Now Crux, I've been told by some of my men that you have been among my ranks for a year now... Is that right?"

"It is My Lord."

"And on how many missions have you been?"

"I wouldn't know the exact number My Lord, but quite a few." He said quietly with occasional stutters.

"Quite a few indeed. And were they all successful?"

"Yes My Lord."

"So I've been told. Many of my men have pointed you as one of the Death Eaters with most power and skill, and with best future among the ranks. I like to be informed about this kind of things. When I first heard about your qualities I started considering sending you in some missions with Senior Death Eaters to get more experience and eventually join my Inner Circle, but then one of my most trusted Death Eaters found something disturbing when I asked them to check your background." Crux paled, knowing what the Dark Lord had discovered. "Now tell me, filthy half-blood, why did you join me? You didn't think I would find out about your mudblood father and Muggle-loving and blood-traitor mother, did you? _CRUCIO!_"

The curse hit him in the chest before he could even answer. His scream was heard all over Riddle Manor. Pain as he had never experienced or even imagined erupted all around his body. It felt as if his insides were boiling. Eventually, the Dark Lord lifted the curse. He looked up at Voldemort, panting, wanting to say something but Voldemort cut him off.

"You really thought that changing your name would fool Lord Voldemort? I should kill you right here, right know." he said before torturing him again.

Pain erupted again all over his body. He now felt what the Cruciatus was like. He had used it several times, while on missions for Voldemort. He had despised himself for using it on helpless Muggles, but he told himself, that he had committed such vile acts in order to protect his family. Right now, knowing how it felt to be at the other side of the curse, he despised himself even more and understood that it's use was unforgivable, even if it was to protect your family.

"Now, I would be a fool if I didn't take advantage of the situation that we have come across." He said after lifting the curse again. "You have surely heard of this mongrel that killed some of my servants yesterday?"

"Yes My Lord." Crux breathed.

"He used this kind of energy blade that was able to deflect the Killing Curse..."

"But My Lord, that's impossib..."

"_CRUCIO!_" Voldemort cried and maintained the curse several seconds before lifting it again. "Don't you dare interrupt me again _half-blood_. As I was saying, he was able to stop the curse. I know more magic than anyone alive, and I know there's no way the Killing Curse can be blocked. So I'm assuming that muggle technology was somehow involved. Since you have Muggle family, your task is to find out how is it possible that he was able to deflect it. I'm only giving you this one chance in gratitude for your services. You have one week to get some kind of lead. If you fail I'll kill you personally and feed you to Nagini. Bellatrix is waiting outside. She'll give you the memory of yesterday's raid so you can see for yourself."

"As you wish, My Lord."

"Get out of my sight!"

"Yes My Lord." He replied and started walking away backwards, not daring to give his back to Voldemort.

He went through the doorway he had used to get in and nearly ran into Bellatrix Lestrange, who was holding a small vial with a silvery substance inside. He took it hesitantly.

"You have one week."

.oOo.

Harry left the Leaky Cauldron and marched into Diagon Alley. He was frustrated. He had been sitting at a table in the wizarding pub for nearly three hours, eavesdropping to the different conversations that the many customers were having around him, and he hadn't find out anything relevant. All conversations were about the attack the day before, about businesses, about Quidditch, about their own lives, but nothing about Harry. This only seemed to prove one of the many theories that had crossed his mind the night before, maybe he had ended somehow in a parallel dimension. Every time he thought about it the more sense it made, but at the same time it seemed far too far-fetched to be true. Although the existence of different dimension had been confirmed by many scientists of the Galactic Republic, travel between them had yet to be proven. He was looking forward to hearing from the Council, hoping they would have the answers he was looking for. But until then he would look for more evidence that confirmed his theory. As eavesdropping to conversations and the Daily Prophet only conserved copies of the last three years, Harry felt he had been left with two options. Get a Modern History book, or invade someone's mind to take a look into the past. The first option was the one ethically correct, as it was less obtrusive, but Harry knew that books could leave big gaps of history unwritten or shaped by the author with his biased ideas. That left him the second option. He only needed to look for someone old enough and take him to a place where they wouldn't be disturbed.

He started to make his way to Knockturn Alley. It was much less crowded and fairly darker, not only in the sense of its magic and shops, but also in the sense of the light that got into that Alley. He felt the dark magic in the air, overwhelming his Jedi senses, while he wandered around the Alley looking for someone who would unwillingly let Harry into his mind. Bad luck that Knockturn Alley was known as a dangerous place. The only people who were alone would be able to put up a fight against him. Not that they could win, but it would draw too much attention. The weaker people walked in groups of two or three people.

He stopped in front of a bookshop, taking a look through the window. Books he thought. He had not seen one since he had left the Earth some years ago. In Coruscant books had been substituted with holographic screens many centuries ago. The young Jedi sighed, remembering the marvellous time he had spent at the Capital planet. He was about to turn away from the shop when he saw, through the reflection of the window, two figures looking at him closely. They looked as if they were talking to one another, but Harry knew better. They were positioned one on front of the other, one giving his back to Harry, while the second one, facing his companion, was able to look at Harry directly, but discreetly, over his friend's shoulder. They had their hoods on, but he could still see their faces. He looked at them briefly, without them noticing, and then he turned away and continued walking at a relaxed pace, as if nothing was happening. He stopped at some random shops and checked they were still there. He continued like this until he saw a deserted alley on his right.

.oOo.

Roger Slater and Paul Wenham were two of the newest additions to the Death Eaters. They had only joined two days ago, and had been immediately sent on their first raid, which had been Hogsmeade. They had both seen with their own eyes how the strange fighter had slaughtered many of their own. No wonder Voldemort had deployed half of his forces around the public places of Wizarding Britain, all of them with the same task. Locate this strange individual. So when they were patrolling the southern end of Knockturn Alley, they couldn't believe their luck. They saw him standing beside a bookshop.

"Hey Paul, isn't that..?" he said trailing off, wondering if the boy they were looking at was the same one as yesterday. It was difficult to know, as the boy was wearing a hood that partially covered his face. Having seen him the day before helped his companion make up his mind.

"Yeah. He most definitely is."

"He's leaving. Let's follow him for a while."

"Why should we follow him when we can capture him?"

"Are you crazy? Did you see what he did yesterday? He'll kick our arses if we try anything. Besides the Dark Lord told us not to approach him, only keep an eye on him."

"Don't be daft. If we do this right we can manage him on our own. Imagine then how grateful the Dark Lord would be."

"If the Dark Lord told us not to approach him he surely has good reasons."

"Look. He's going into that Alley. We should grab him now that we can."

"No! I'm going to get reinforcements and to inform the Dark Lord. You do as you wish." and with that Slater disapparated from Knockturn Alley.

"Looks like I'll have to do the dirty job myself." He said to himself before going into the alley.

He walked into the alley that the stranger had gone into and he found it deserted. This troubled him immensely, as he knew there was no way out. He took his wand out. Maybe the stranger had already left, but he had to make sure that he wasn't hiding behind any wall. He advanced warily, paying attention to any movements around him.

Suddenly there was a loud clang on his left, a couple of yards behind him. He turned abruptly, expecting to see the stranger there, but he was wrong. An old pipe had fallen to the ground. He turned again, only to see a figure coming towards him at an amazing speed. Before he could even blink he found himself wandless and pinned to the ground by a green eyed teenager.

"Where is the other one?" Harry asked coldly.

"I'm on my own." He lied.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Harry said and punched his face. "I saw you following me, scum. Tell me! Where's your companion?"

"Go to hell."

"Fine, I'll do it the hard way." Harry started punching his face until the Death Eater was unconscious.

Then he entered his mind. He looked for the man's most recent memories, where he found out that some Death Eaters would be there soon. But he had time. After that, Harry started looking for the memories of some specific dates. The first one he sought, was the day after Halloween, 1981.

He saw a young kid and an adult, presumably the kid's father having breakfast in a kitchen. The child was begging his father for a game of Quidditch but his father insisted that he was busy at the time. Harry observed that the adult was reading the newspaper so he approached it to read the headlines on the front page. It read:

_HARRY POTTER'S DEAD BODY FOUND IN HOGSMEADE_

_By Jonas Skeeter_

_The Potter's youngest son corpse was found yesterday by the Aurors near the Hog's Head at Hogsmeade. The youngest of the two twins that Lily Potter had given birth little more than a year ago, was abducted yesterday by a large group of Death Eaters while the Potter's were visiting Diagon Alley. The autopsy of the child's corpse at St. Mungo's revealed that the poor child was tortured with the Cruciatus Curse before his abductors killed him..._

Harry was too shocked to continue reading. He slipped out of the Death Eater's mind without noticing it, still starting to understand what this revelation meant. Memories could not be faked or planted. This meant that he was really in another dimension, were as he had already seen, many of his friends were alive and he was dead. And to make it even weirder, his parents were alive and he had a twin brother. These were too many revelations that confirmed his theory. He had to contact The Council immediately.

He stood up and started walk back to the Leaky Cauldron, as he didn't know how to apparate. In fact all he knew about magic was what he had learned at Hogwarts. Back at Coruscant all he had learned was the Jedi Arts, and in his spare time he practiced the magic he had learnt in his former school, eventually managing to perform all the spells he knew wandlessly.

The sound of various 'cracks' filled the air and Harry ran to the shadows and concealed himself before they managed to spot him. Fifteen Death Eaters were now in the small alley, looking for him, and he knew that he could only avoid the confrontation if he stayed where he was and he wasn't found. He had nowhere to run. All of a sudden, another 'crack' echoed through the air although it wasn't anyone Apparating in. It came from a nearby door. Harry wasn't prepared for what he was about to see.

.oOo.

Ron and Jack apparated directly from the Honeydukes' cellar to their Firewhiskey supplier's front door, as Apparating directly into someone's house was illegal and many residences had antiapparition wards. Their friend and supplier lived in a little flat in Wizarding London. Jack approached the door and knocked. A few moments later their friend appeared behind it.

"A bit late aren't we?" said their supplier seriously. Jack and Ron looked at each other and then at their supplier. After several awkward moments they all burst out laughing.

"It's good to see you too Wood." said Jack laughing.

"Yeah, sorry for keeping you waiting. We had a little problem with our sisters." Ron added.

"Really? What kind of problem?" Wood asked.

"They intended to follow us out of the castle. Obviously we couldn't risk being followed here so we had to negotiate a bit with them." Jack explained and Wood shuddered.

"From what I can remember those two were worse than your twin brothers Ron."

"Well you should see them now. You only knew them during your two last years at Hogwarts. But now that they've grown up they can be downright cruel when they want to." Ron said.

"So let's get down to business guys. We don't have much time." Jack proposed.

"Right...Just give me a sec." said Wood. He disappeared into the kitchen and came back three bags. "So in this two bags are the bottles of Firewhiskey, and in the other one the muggle alcohol, Vodka was it?"

"Yeah, how much?" Ron said while Jack inspected the bags.

"Fifty Galleons."

"'kay." Ron said while he handed over the money.

"Hey we gotta get going. We'll owl you in about two weeks to make another purchase. Quidditch season starting in one month. Many parties will need beverages, so be ready for a big order." Jack called.

"Good. What about Malfoy though?" Wood asked.

"We were thinking about putting him out of business this month. When he owls you, which we presume will be in a week or two at most, tell him that you'll have his order a couple of days before the Quidditch season begins. It starts with a Hufflepuff vs Slytherin, so probably the snakes will have a big party. Then were you're supposed to receive his order, owl him telling him that you can't sell him anymore, that you're sorry, blah, blah, blah, and whatever crosses your mind." Ron explained.

"That way you'll provide for Slytherin's party right? Very clever." Wood deduced.

"Thanks." They both said with a smile.

"So goodbye guys. A pleasure making business with you gentlemen."

"Bye." Ron said and Jack waved his hand.

Then they apparated away to Honeydukes' cellar, or rather attempted, because there was a soft gong when they tried to apparate.

"What the hell?!" Jack said.

"We can't apparate!" Ron voiced.

"Maybe it's just a problem with the wards around the flats. They've been rather weak and unpredictable lately. I suggest you try the street. There you should have no problems at all."

"Ok. See you Wood."

They went down the stairs, each one of them lost in their own thoughts. When they finally made it to the door that lead to the street, Jack grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it. The door was rather rusty and was hard to open. Probably because being a magical residence everyone apparated into their own flats and never used the door. After a few tries, the door finally gave in and it opened with a loud 'crack'. They stepped out quietly without noticing the group of people that were outside until a voice echoed through the street.

"Look who's here... the Potter brat and his sidekick!"

.oOo.

All of a sudden, another 'crack' echoed through the air. It came from a nearby door. Harry wasn't prepared for what he was about to see. Two boys appeared behind a door, completely oblivious to the Death Eaters that crowded the alley. They were about Harry's age and he recognized one of them.

Ron.

He was snapped out of his shock when one of the Death Eaters' voice was heard. A voice that sounded very familiar to him but he couldn't place.

"Look who's here... the Potter brat and his sidekick!" said the Death Eater while raising his wand.

"RUN!" cried Jack.

"CRUCIO!" cried the Death Eater while they were both running.

The curse missed them and soon all Death Eaters were firing curses their way. Jack and Ron took cover behind a low wall. Harry didn't waste more time. He left the protection of the shadows while igniting his Lightsaber and charged the Death Eaters' flank. Before they could even realize what was going on, Harry had slaughtered four of them and three more were incapacitated. In the confusion Jack and Ron managed to bring down one more with Stupefies. The remaining six regrouped and started to get into offensive, throwing spell after spell Harry's way. He kept dodging and deflecting the curses, but they were too many to be able to return them precisely towards their casters. Jack and Ron eventually came out from their hiding and joined the fight. This helped Harry as the amount of spells coming his way lessened considerably. The two students were capable of holding their own at the moment, but they had been wounded, not heavily, and they wouldn't last too long. He had to get more offensive. He managed to send back a killing curse back at its caster while Ron and Jack managed to stun another one. He sensed a Killing curse his way and rolled to the side, reached into the Force and sent each one of the three remaining Death Eaters towards one another. They fell to the ground rather clumsily and in no time Jack and Ron were pointing their wands at them.

"STUPEFY! PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" cried Ron.

"STUPEFY!" also said Jack.

"Good job mate!" complimented Ron looking at his best mate.

"Yeah, you too." He responded.

"Hey,... you!" Ron cried uncertainly to Harry. "We wanted to than..."

"Shhhhh..."was the only reply he got.

Harry was looking around as if he expected another wave of Death Eaters to appear. He had done a quick body count and there were only thirteen bodies, therefore two more had escaped or were hiding. Harry quickly discarded the possibility that they had both run away as he could sense a fourth presence in the close proximities, other than his and the other two students. One had probably run to get reinforcements and the other one was around, hiding, probably under some sort of disguise spell. He concentrated in where the feeling of this fourth presence came from for a few moments. Ron was about to speak again when he saw the Jedi turn suddenly and swiftly towards him and throw his Lightsaber in his direction. Ron was too shocked to move. He saw the weapon fly in his direction but soon it became obvious that it wasn't going to hit him. Instead a loud thud followed by a scream of pain was heard from a couple of yards away from Ron. He turned to slowly its source. A Death Eater laid dead with Harry's Lightsaber through his throat. Ron and Jack stood silently looking between the dead Death Eater and Harry while he walked towards it and recovered his weapon. They finally all locked their gazes with one another. More silence. Finally it was Harry who broke the ice.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked.

"Yes." They managed to splutter after a few moments.

"Good. Can you apparate me out of here?" They both reacted with hesitation. They didn't know this guy, but they doubted he was their enemy. After all he had probably saved their lives. At their dubitative silence Harry spoke again.

"The Aurors will be here shortly. I think it would be better if we were all gone when they arrived. And as I don't know how to apparate I'll ask you again. Can you apparate us out of here?" he asked in an authoritative tone.

"Okay." Ron finally managed to splutter. "Grab my arm." He said, extending his hand over to Harry.

"Where would you have us take you?" Jack asked.

"Hogsmeade, please? I'm staying at the Three Broomsticks."

"We'll drop you in the outskirts of the village. We have to go back to school or they will notice we're missing."

"That's okay with me." he said grabbing Ron's outstretched arm.

"We drop him at the Shack okay?" Ron proposed and Harry managed to smirk at their destination. Jack nodded and disappeared from the scene with a faint pop.

"Let's go." was all the previous warning Ron gave before they disapparated.

.oOo.

Meanwhile, Severus Snape was fulfilling his duties as Dumbledore's spy. The Dark Lord had gathered all his Inner Circle for a meeting. Many developments had to be discussed. As usually, Snape sat silently in his chair only speaking when spoken to, and he kept his Occlumency shields at full power. He had been doing this for a very long time, almost half of his life. He had learned how to be an effective spy the hard way, by committing mistakes and talking his way out of them. It had been a long time before he managed to gain Voldemort's trust. The Dark Lord was very cautious man. He had put Snape in various situations where he had to prove his loyalty. Snape was forced to murder two popular and respected wizards who opposed his Master. He had nightmares about it, murdering them in cold blood, only to gain access to the Dark Lord's elitist group. Naturally Dumbledore knew all about the murders, although he never commented anything to him. The headmaster was positive that his potions master knew that he was aware of those activities, therefore he never said anything. Collateral damage was to be expected at war. Talking about it would bring nothing good.

The different Death Eaters finished their reports after a while. Snape had not been really listening, as he kept working in his mind barriers, as he would have to face the Dark Lord's gaze now. It was his turn to update the Dark Lord on Dumbledore's activities. It was a test for him each time. Voldemort used Legilimency on all of his servants, so Snape had to put in the front of his mind random memories for Voldemort to see.

He stood up and started filling in Voldemort on what he had found out. He hadn't said ten words when someone knocked on the door. The look on Voldemort's face was murderous. He didn't like to be disturbed, especially when he was hosting these meetings. He signalled to the man that was the latest addition to the Inner Circle. Said man got up and opened the door.

"What is the matter?" Voldemort said condescendingly to the Death Eater who was standing at the doorway. It was one of his guards.

"My Lord, one of your servants claims to have information on that stranger with the bizarre weapon." Voldemort's face was now lit up with curiosity.

"Bring him in."

The guard bowed and came back in a few moments later, with another man walking behind. He ushered him into the room and closed the door. The Death Eater, who must be from the lower ranks thought Snape, bowed in front of Voldemort.

"What is this information you have on that mongrel?"

"My Lord, me and my assigned partner, Paul Wenham, were patrolling Knockturn Alley this morning when we saw the stranger. As you ordered, we only followed him, we didn't approach him. My companion manifested his desire to catch him, so when the stranger went into a dead end alley he said he'd go and get him. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to stop him I went to headquarters to get reinforcements. When we returned to the site we found Wenham unconscious. The stranger was hiding. We didn't know that at the moment, but we feared that he had escaped. We decided to search the Alley, just in case. Then we ran into someone we had not expected, Jack Potter and Ronald Weasley came out into the Alley." Snape's head was now filled with questions as well as mental insults to both Gryffindors.

"What were they doing there?"

"We do not know My Lord. We tried to capture them. It was when the stranger came out of his hiding. He decimated our ranks as easily as yesterday. I got out from there when I saw it was a fight impossible to win. I thought someone should survive to be able to inform you My Lord."

Voldemort sat silently for a few minutes. Everybody else did the same. Some were only being respectful. They didn't want to get tortured for being disrespectful. Others, as Snape for example, were thinking about the consequences about Potter, Weasley and this 'mongrel', as Voldemort liked to call him in the same deserted Alley. It could not be a coincidence. How were all of them connected? He didn't know, but he had to inform Dumbledore. These were important news.

Voldemort seemed to be on the same trail of thoughts, as he faced Snape when he finally came out of his pensive stance.

"Snape, go to Dumbledore now. You'll have to inform me some other time. Find out the connection between those brats and the mongrel. It cannot be a coincidence that they were at the same place, at the same time, especially when both students should be at school."

"As you wish My Lord." he replied calmly, betraying no emotion.

.oOo.

The three teenagers appeared at the ground floor of the Shrieking Shack, where Jack was already waiting. Harry took a few moments to recover. It had been a long time since he had used side-along apparition, and he didn't like how this way of travel felt.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, feigning ignorance.

"The Shrieking Shack, surely you've heard about it." Jack replied.

"Of course, but isn't it supposedly haunted?"

"That's only an urban legend." Ron dismissed while Harry had a look around. When he turned to look at them again, he noticed that Jack was grabbing tightly his left arm, blood slipping out between his fingers.

"You want me to heal it?" Harry broke the silence, looking at his twin brother's arm.

"What? Oh yeah. Sure." he said while Harry placed his hand over Jack's wound and started healing it.

"You're the one that defended Hogsmeade yesterday aren't you?" Ron asked from their side. Harry looked at both their expecting glances and after several seconds he nodded slowly.

"You know there are _a lot_ of people looking for you right now, do you?" Jack said.

"Yeah, and they'd do good to stay away from me. You've seen what happened to the last ones that tried to capture me." he replied. Ron and Jack both paled.

"You mean those Death Eaters?" Jack asked.

Harry nodded.

"There, it's okay now, completely healed."

"Thanks." Jack grinned inspecting his forearm that was now completely healed.

"You mean that those Death Eaters weren't there for us?" Ron asked.

"What would make you think that?" Harry asked.

"Well we sneak out of school, and suddenly we run into fifteen Death Eaters who were just behind the door we used. Last time I checked Death Eaters don't hold their meetings in day broad light."

"Well, sorry to disappoint but they were there looking for me. You just ran into us. It was only bad luck. Why were you out of the castle?" Both students looked at each other for a brief moment. Then they nodded in consent.

"Well, we had to get some stock..." Jack said showing one of the shrunk bags. Harry was able to see its contents.

"You think we have time for a drink?" he asked hopefully.

"As much as we'd like that we really have to get to school. It's not we don't want to share it, you can have one actually." Ron said enlarging a bottle of Firewhiskey for Harry.

"Thanks guys." he said inspecting the bottle.

"No, thank you. You saved our lives back there. It's the least we can do." Jack said while retreating towards the hidden entrance that lead to the passageway.

"Wait!" Harry cried. "How do I get to Hogsmeade?"

"Oh, yeah. Use the back door. Follow the trail until you see the path that leads to the edge of the forest. From there you'll be able to see Hogsmeade and the Three Broomsticks."

"Thanks again guys." he said while they disappeared into the passageway.

He stayed where he was, rooted in the spot. When he didn't feel their presence anymore he climbed the stairs to 'his' attic, with one single idea in his mind. He had to inform the council about today's events.


	3. Decisions

Disclaimer see Chapter 1.

**Chapter 3: Decisions**

Ron and Jack walked silently through the tunnel that lead to the Whomping Willow, each submerged in his own thoughts. It was finally Ron that broke the silence.

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Do about what?"

"About what happened today."

"I think we shouldn't say anything. To anyone."

"What about the group? Surely Neville, Hermione and our sisters could keep the secret."

"Fine, but you know what Hermione will say."

"Of course. She'll try to convince us that we should go to Dumbledore."

"Imagine the trouble we would get ourselves in."

"Besides, going to Dumbledore or anyone for that matter, and tell them we met this stranger, it wouldn't be right. He saved our necks."

"Yeah, knowing that he likes the anonymity, it would be a poor payment for his help."

After Ron and Jack got past the Whomping Willow without complications under the Invisibility cloak they made their way directly to Gryffindor Tower. Their stomachs growled when they heard the boisterousness coming from the Great Hall as the rest of the students were on the last stages of their meals. They had missed lunch and therefore they were particularly hungry, but they had other matters to attend to, such as storing their new stock safely in their dormitory. They figured they would get something in the kitchens when they were finished. Thankfully, they didn't encounter anyone in their way up, especially any Professors, asking about their whereabouts that morning. The Hogwarts faculty had caught them several times sneaking out of the school, which had resulted in earning many detentions and several hundred points lost throughout the years, so it had become a habit for the school staff to question where they had been if they weren't seen by anyone for long periods of time.

They finally made it to their Common Room, where they found Dean and Seamus playing Wizard's Chess in a table near the stairs that lead to the dorms. Ever since Ron had set foot in Hogwarts, it was common to see many people playing this wizarding game in Gryffindor, practicing while playing against each other. They had all lost at some point against the read-head, who had become somewhat a legendary Chess player in the school. Even Dumbledore hadn't been able to defeat him. Gryffindor had a pool going on, five Galleons buy-in. The lucky person to be able to defeat Ron would get himself a nice price. If no-one did, Ron would get all of it. He expected their last week in Hogwarts to be occupied mostly with all the Hogwarts population attempting to beat him in a last endeavour to get the money.

"Hey guys. Still determined to beat me, I see?"

"Hi." Seamus replied looking very focused on the game, not even looking up to greet his room-mates.

"What can I say? I love money." Dean answered grinning.

"What's the pool up to?" Jack asked.

"About five hundred Galleons last I heard." Seamus replied after making his move. Ron whistled in amazement.

"Really? That high? Eight months more and I'll be five hundred Galleons richer." he said rubbing his hands.

"You wish. I'll beat you, eventually." Seamus challenged.

"You only have 'til June..." Ron threw back the challenge.

"You guys seen our sisters?" Jack cut in, avoiding a major challenge exchange between them.

"We saw them at lunch. After that they took off, to the library I think." Dean answered.

"Ok, thank you guys. We have things to do so I guess we'll see you later." Jack said.

"By the way Dean... move your knight to E4 and you'll have Checkmate in three more moves." Ron added from the staircase.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Seamus yelled indignantly, but Ron had already disappeared through the stairs.

They arrived to their dorm and Ron shut the door behind him and warded it with a few simple privacy and locking charms. They didn't want nobody to find out where they stored the precious beverage, although the right question wasn't really where it was, but how it was stored, for it was safely hidden in a spare trunk that Jack got and that was kept under Ron's bed. They had expertly hidden it from people's view by using the Fidelius Charm. Jack was Secret-Keeper. The Fidelius had proven more useful than they thought, for the space underneath Ron's bed had become ever since the place where they hid all important things, such as their brooms, prank items or the Invisibility cloak. It had become a safe for them and it had been proven useful when McGonagall had inspected their dormitory fruitlessly after Snape had implied that they had banned beverages on their possession. Later that night Snape and Malfoy sported similar scowls during dinner. It had also survived other routinary inspections after many pranks they had pulled.

.oOo.

Severus Snape marched through the corridors of the school with a deep scowl over his face. He was on his way to Dumbledore's office. After having heard of the little stunt that the two Gryffindors had pulled earlier, he had left the Dark Lord's Headquarters to come and inform the Head of the Order of the Phoenix. Partly, he was relieved that he had escaped having to update the Dark Lord and endure his interrogation. It was always hard to keep the truth from him.

He arrived to the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office and ordered it to move. It did. Only Professors, and sometimes students if the Gargoyle deemed it necessary, were able to go in without speaking the password.

"Come in." a voice was heard through the door before Snape was able to open the door, as Snape never knocked to get in. He just stormed in. Dumbledore had grown used to it over the years, although he did not appreciate it.

"Ah, Severus, how did your meeting go? Any relevant information?"

"Very relevant Albus, it seems that your mystery boy was spotted by some of his Death Eaters earlier today, and in the company of none other than Mr. Jack Potter and Mr. Ronald Weasley."

"What?"

"According to one of the Dark Lord's servants they were out of the school, in Knockturn Alley I should add. The Death Eaters were looking for the unnamed boy, when the two brats appeared in the middle of it. Apparently they sided with the other boy and defeated them."

"Isn't there any possibility that they confused someone with them?"

"I don't think so. As you already know, the Dark Lord uses Legilimency on all of his servants. I'm sure he saw exactly what happened during the fight. He had no doubt that it was them. If you want proof about it I suggest you talk to the two of them."

"Very well." said Dumbledore with a worried look. He took out his wand and sent a Patronus to McGonagall, asking for the summoning of her students. "McGonagall will bring them to Grimmauld Place. I'll question them there. Expect to receive a summoning for an Order meeting shortly."

.oOo.

Jack and Ron left the Gryffindor Tower and headed to the library. If Seamus and Dean were right they would find them there and then probably Hermione would be there too. There was a high chance that they would find Neville with them too. If not, the next probable place was the Room of Requirement. They were planning to go there anyways and tell them everything that had transpired while they were gone.

After having visited the kitchens, where the House Elves provided them with some sandwiches and butterbeer, they found their friends sharing a table in one secluded spot of the library, away from most bookshelves and as far away from the entrance as you could get. As a result this spot wasn't easily disturbed by the comings and goings of the students. Old books and maps were spread all over their table while Hermione explained to her class mates thoroughly and very excitedly, and in silent whispers, some of the contents that the rest had slept through in Binns' class. They seemed to be as bored as they would usually get before drifting off in the actual class. Jack's sister, Claire, was genuinely dozing off, though Hermione, unlike Professor Binns, seemed to notice people sleeping around her, so the youngest Potter was shaken awake followed by a reproachful look from Hermione every time sleep claimed her.

Jack and Ron, not too keen in joining in and suffering the tedious lecture, thought about leaving and having their chat with them later, but Ron's pity kicked in and they decided to try and talk out Hermione of continuing with her boring chalk talk. They took the spare seats at the end of the table silently. Only Hermione seemed to notice at first, as the others were half asleep, but a few seconds later they all acknowledged their presence.

"Where were you? You missed lunch." Ginny said in a sharp tone while Hermione grabbed two books and passed them to both newcomers.

"Oh, no Hermione. Not now." Ron whined when he received the book.

"Page 223, We're revising the fourth Goblin War."

"Hermione we have something to tell all of you. We can postpone this for a while." Jack said signalling the unopened book.

"We have a test on this in two weeks time." she replied angrily. The rest rolled their eyes, she didn't notice it though.

"Come on Hermione. It's important." Ron pleaded.

"Okay..." she finally said reluctantly. The ones that had endured her explanations during the last hour were cheering mentally.

"Let's go to the Room." Jack said excitedly.

However, they didn't make it that far as a third-year Gryffindor named Thomas Harris approached them just as they were heading out of the library, and handed Jack a piece of parchment where, with the fine and delicate handwriting of their head of House was the following note.

_Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley please come to my Office as soon as possible._

_M. McGonagall, your Head of House._

They looked at each other worriedly while Ginny grabbed the note and read it to the rest. They shared knowing looks.

"What did you do this time?" Hermione admonished. The two Gryffindors kept sharing worried glances. Finally Jack spoke.

"We'll see you later." His face was pale, as was Ron's. They left without looking back at the group. They didn't talk to each other either. They were both too worried that their little adventure had been discovered.

"What do you think that was about?" Claire asked suspiciously after they had left. When no one answered she looked at Neville with a questioning glance, raising her eyebrows.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"We know that they were going to buy Firewhiskey today." Ginny whispered.

"What?" Hermione cried. She was Head Girl and she didn't enjoy the idea of their best friends, one of them being Head Boy, were breaking so many rules.

"You think they were caught?" Claire asked ignoring, like the rest of them, the bushy haired girl.

"Look girls. Here I know as much as you do. Although I have to admit that this is the first time I've seen them so distraught with a warning note like that. They get dozens of them over the year. Why is it different today?"

"Yes. That's true. You reckon something happened today? They seemed rather anxious to tell us whatever they were about to tell us before they left."

"We'll have to question them when they get back."

"Let's go to the Common Room. I think I've done enough homework and revising for today."Claire said.

Meanwhile Jack and Ron were walking towards their Head of House's Office, unintentionally walking at a slow pace, and still in silence. When they were outside McGonagall's Office, Ron whispered the question that was troubling them both.

"You think they know? I mean, about what happened in London?" he whispered.

"Guess there's only one way to find out." Jack replied grabbing the doorknob.

"Wait. They may know that we sneaked out of school, but probably they won't know why. So we will not mention Wood or the Firewhiskey unless necessary, okay?"

Jack only nodded in agreement. He knocked and after they heard a faint 'Come in' Jack grabbed the doorknob and entered the Office. Seated behind her desk was McGonagall, although neither Jack nor Ron could guess by her expression if she knew or not what had happened earlier in the day.

"I don't know what have you got yourselves into this time but Professor Dumbledore has asked me to collect you and bring you to Order's Headquarters."

Again, they looked at each other, pale. They knew, and they were being taken to Headquarters. Whatever happened that afternoon they were sure it would not be nice. When they didn't reply their Transfiguration Professor took out a quill from a drawer of her desk.

"This is a Portkey. Get hold of it."

Both boys grabbed it tightly.

"Activate."

.oOo.

When Harry reached the attic of the Shrieking Shack his first move was to conjure himself a glass and pour some of the Firewhiskey that he had left from yesterday's bottle. He had to inform the council immediately of the developments, but he couldn't stop his mind from wandering to the moment he had met his 'dimension' brother and Ron. He grabbed the other bottle, the one Jack and Ron had given him in exchange for saving their lives back at Knockturn Alley, and placed a mild cooling charm in it, and then slumped in the armchair. Meeting him had been... weird. Yes, that was definitely the word that best described what he had felt the moment their gazes had met. He hadn't got much time to think about having a brother in this dimension before they had met, but he would have never expected to have an emotional reaction. He had thought it would be like meeting anyone else, no emotions appearing suddenly, after all they were from different dimensions, and therefore he wasn't really his brother as they were born to different people. But looking at it from another angle, he _was_ his brother, he had the same Potter blood running through his veins. Surely a DNA test would prove their kinship. But the moment they had met, his heart constricted painfully. It was as if a connection between them had erupted to while life being in each other's presence. He didn't know if Jack had felt the same, but definitely it wasn't the same he had felt when he had met Ron for the first time in the train. A disturbing thought entered his mind. What if he had a lost brother in his old dimension? If the Lily here had been pregnant with twins, how did he know for sure that he didn't have a Jack back in his dimension? Maybe Dumbledore had kept it from him. After all he had kept so many things from him, like the Prophecy, which if Harry hadn't been so inquisitive after Cedric's death, it would have been kept longer from him. He wondered if the prophecy existed here. It certainly seemed that way, since Voldemort's Death Eaters had killed his one year old counterpart. He would have to find out.

His thoughts wandered to Ron Weasley then. Meeting Ron again, especially after his death, had been also weird, but it had been refreshing and it had made him feel somehow complete, as if a part of his life, which had been forcefully taken away, had finally been returned. He had enjoyed hearing his voice again and having a conversation with him, although it had not felt the same. He had sensed the caution on Ron's voice when they talked, a caution that 'his' Ron had never had. He had always been the one to act before thinking things through. This Ron was different he seemed more mature. Harry wondered if the Ron in his dimension had lived until the age of seventeen he would have been like this, having matured through the years.

Finally, after a few more moments of thought, he straightened up in his armchair.

"R2, connect me to the Jedi Temple."

.oOo.

A while after lunchtime, James was walking through the Hogwarts corridors towards his and Lily's quarters. Actually, there were Lily's, as she was a Professor at Hogwarts, but James usually spent the nights there with her, as well as his free time. The castle had become a second home to him again. He had been really sad when he had finished his seventh year. He knew that he would be welcome there at any time since he was a former student, but he wouldn't be able to live in it anymore, unless he became part of the staff, which at that moment of his life, didn't seem believable at all. He had always dreamed of being an Auror like his dead father, or a professional Quidditch player. But now that his lovely wife was a Professor there, the castle had become somewhat of a second residence to him, having all his family nearby. Although he loved Potter Manor, where he had grown up, the house without its inhabitants wasn't the same.

He arrived to the portrait that lead into his wife's quarters. He spoke the password and climbed through the entrance. He found his wife standing in front of a book shelve; giving her back to him, while inspecting some books. It seemed she hadn't heard James come in. When she concentrated, she was usually oblivious to the things going around her. James stood for a few moments observing her. She was as beautiful as she was when they had married, perhaps even more. Her husband approached her silently and gently placed his hands around her waist while kissing her neck.

"Hi honey." He whispered into her ear. He continued with his kisses. She stopped what she was doing and placed her hands over his husbands embracing arms while closing her eyes and enjoying the sensation her husband's kisses gave her.

"James... Not now. I've got loads of homework to..." she paused and took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. James had slipped his hands under her blouse and his fingers were gently sliding along her ribcage. She spun around, sought James' lips and crushed her mouth to his. He yanked her up against him, pressing her against the wall. She groaned as her husband's arms slipped again under her blouse.

The sound of the portrait opening startled them. They didn't have the time to hide from view, or at least part their lips before none other than Sirius Black came in.

"Hey Prongs! Lily! Are you th..."boomed his voice. He stopped in his tracks when he saw them and produced a mischievous grin. "Ah, having some fun, eh?"

"PADFOOT!" James cried angrily.

"Don't you how to lock the door James?" said an angry and red faced Lily.

"Apparently not." provided Sirius with a big smile on his face before James had the opportunity to speak.

"Don't you know how to knock?" James asked his friend in the same tone her wife had used on him.

"Apparently not..." answered Lily when Sirius didn't know what to answer.

"Well?" he said dryly.

"Well what?" replied Sirius.

"Why are you here?" James urged. "You better have a damn good reason."

"Dumbledore has scheduled a meeting. He asked me to come and collect you." James sighed and Lily exploded.

"Damn that man and his meetings! Am I not allowed to spend some time with my husband?"

"What is it about this time?" James asked exasperatedly.

"Dunno. He only told me to forward you the message. I've already told Peter and Remus."

"Ok. Just let me a couple of minutes to finish this." said Lily while walking to her table, where a large amount of essays had formed a pile.

"So how are Jack and Claire doing? I heard that Jack had a little argument with Snivellus." Sirius asked his friend.

"Yeah. I believe that by now Snape hates him more than he has ever hated us. Anyway, Dumbledore told me about it and how he expected me talk to Jack about respecting Snape."

"The man is delusional!" Sirius barked with laughter. "What happened this time?"

"Snape was severely pranked. As always he was too eager to accuse Jack. He wasn't able to prove that it was my son, but deep down he knew it had been him. So you know the git. He assigned detention, Jack defended himself and Snape took him to the Headmaster. My dear son has earned himself a week's detention with the git."

"How could Dumbledore punish him if he couldn't prove it was him?"

"This one is the last of many similar situations. Every time Snape's pranked Jack receives the blame but due to the lack of evidence he gets away with it."

"That is the Marauder way."

"Yeah. Until today. Dumbledore seems to have lost his patience."

"So it was really Jack this time?"

"I haven't talked to him yet as I haven't seen him since breakfast. But I'd bet it was him."

"I'm glad there's someone who keeps hitting his arrogance."

"So how's Elizabeth doing? Lily's told me she's a real prodigy in Charms." James asked making Sirius' face fill up with pride.

"Yeah. She seems to have taken Moony's role among our kids. Ever since she received her letter this summer she started pestering us about buying her books and wand as soon as possible."

"Claire was pretty much the same, and Jack only seemed to want the wand."

"Ok guys. I'm ready." announced Lily, having finished with the essays.

"So we use the Floo or apparition?"

"Dumbledore told me to use his fireplace."

"Let's go then."

.oOo.

R2 projected the slightly transparent blue tridimensional images of Master Windu and all of the Jedi Council.

"Ah, young Potter. How very nice of you to join us. On your mission any updates you have?" asked Master Yoda.

"Yes Master. I did a little bit of research and my conclusions are not good. Troubling in fact." "Are they now?"

"From what I've found out it seems that I've travelled to another dimension."

"That is not possible Harry. If you were in another dimension we would have also been replaced by our counterparts." Windu interjected.

"I know. That is what's troubling me. All here seems to be far too real for it to be a scheme. I entered a man's mind and I found out that Harry Potter was killed sixteen years ago. The same date as my parents were killed and I got my scar."

"You don't think it could be this Voldemort's work?"

"No Master. I think it's far too far-fetched and too complicated to execute. Besides, he would have to know that I was coming. He still has no knowledge of anything outside his planet."

"Do not assume anything so lightly young Potter. Clear your mind you must if you are to discover the root to this problem." Yoda replied.

"Yes Master. But what about my mission?"

"Your objectives shall remain the same Harry. You know of the importance of Voldemort being destroyed. If the Sith manage to locate this planet and contact him the results could be catastrophic. Due to this alternate dimension problem all background intel we had gathered is useless." Windu informed him.

"Find out his weak points you must, young Padawan, and imperative it is to exploit them." Yoda added.

"Yes Master. I'll inform you if something important comes up."

.oOo.

Sirius and the Potters stumbled out of the fireplace in the dining room of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. There they found Dumbledore, Snape and the Weasleys. Molly and Arthur sported the same confused and expecting looks that James, Lily and Sirius had. However Dumbledore was looking at them gravely.

"Albus, what's the matter?" said Lily concerned by the look of her former Headmaster.

"Please, my friends, take a seat."

"Shouldn't we wait for the rest of the Order to arrive, Albus?" inquired Mr. Weasley.

"We'll have the Order Meeting once I've finished talking with you."

"Why? I mean why are we here in a meeting before the real one starts?" Mrs. Weasley questioned.

"Because the piece of information I will be disclosing to all of the Order affects in great measure both your families. Earlier today there has been another sighting of this mysterious boy."

"The boy from yesterday? I fail to see how it affects our families that he's been sighted." Molly said.

"He has been sighted in Knockturn Alley. However that is not the troubling piece of information. He was seen in the company of two more people."

"Who?" James said.

"He was seen in the company of Jack," he said, and then turned to look at the Weasleys." and Ronald."

"What!" both mothers cried at the same time.

"What the hell where they doing in Knockturn Alley?" James asked with a raised voice to no-one in particular.

"Are they okay, Albus?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I can assure you they are both fine. In fact they are both in one of the rooms upstairs. Before the meeting starts you'll be allowed to see them."

"What were they doing together? How did they know each other?"

"They didn't. It was a great and unfortunate coincidence that they met today. Or fortunate, I'd rather say, as this teenager saved their necks down there in London. From what I've seen in their memories, they only sneaked out of school to visit a friend. When they were leaving they ran into a group of Death Eaters that were looking for our subject. The Death eaters started firing spells at them and suddenly the boy appeared from nowhere and started attacking the Death Eaters. With the same crudeness as yesterday, I should say. I think that some of the Death Eaters he knocked out will be missing several limbs when awoken, if they are lucky enough to be able of being awakened. Between the three of them they managed to win the fight. None of your sons sustained injuries."

"Albus, you know this, how?" Sirius asked, as both families were too shaken to be able to think straight.

"One Death Eater escaped." said Snape. "And he came before the Dark Lord and explained everything. As they were sighted with that boy, I'm afraid that they are both in Voldemort's black list now, as he's doing everything he can to either make this new menace join his ranks, or destroy him. Once I was able to leave the Dark Lord's Headquarters I came to Dumbledore as fast as possible with the news."

"Oh no..." were the only words discernible between Lily's sobs.

"Once Severus had filled me in, I brought both of them here. They reluctantly admitted the truth and provided me with one of their memories of the event."

He took out a small pensive and placed it in the table. Then, he took a small vial from his robes and poured its contents in it. The silvery substance filled the recipient, and projected some images on its surface. One by one, all the people in the room, including Sirius, Snape and Dumbledore, leaned into the bowl, diving their heads beneath the silver liquid. They spent many minutes inside. When they came out, the parents of both students were much calmer, having seen with their own eyes that their sons were fine.

"Severus has already agreed to try and convince Voldemort that there is no connection whatsoever between your sons and the other boy. However I think we should apply some other security measures to ensure that no harm falls upon them, at least for a while."

"What type of measures?" James asked.

"No more Hogsmeade weekends for example. In fact it would be most unwise to live the castle's grounds at all. As long as they don't leave its boundaries they should be safe. Obviously I'll have someone from the Order keeping an eye on them."

"Emergency portkeys could also be useful." stated Snape.

"I agree. And James, I have been wanting to ask you, is it possible that you're somehow related to him? You'll have to admit that the resemblance is uncanny."

"I'm afraid not Albus. You already know that I have not many relatives. Like me, my father, my grandfather and his father, were born as an only child. I'm the first Potter in over a hundred years to have more than one child. So I don't think we can be related in any way. It's pretty much impossible."

"Nonetheless, I would be grateful if you could look into it, if only to make sure."

"Ok Albus."

"Thanks. You may now go and see your sons. You have ten minutes before the meeting. And bring Jack and Ronald along to the meeting." said Dumbledore.

"Don't be too hard on him. You know we did the same when we had their age. What happened today was only bad luck." Whispered Sirius to his friends while they were leaving the dining room.

"I know. But it's my duty as a father, you know."

.oOo.

Harry Potter sat on his armchair, annoyed with the outcome of his brief conversation with the Jedi Council. His mission, which was the first one he had ever been assigned to do in solitary had taken a most unexpected and unwelcome turn. The objective of his mission was to bring down Voldemort's reign of terror. In his old dimension, according to the intel gathered by some sources and to what Harry knew, he would only need to kill the main target, Voldemort. But now, instead of simply finding Voldemort and chopping his head off with his Lightsaber, and therefore completing his mission, now he was forced to get some background information on this dimension's Voldemort. If the Voldemort here was smarter than his old one, he may have had some backup plans for his ideals to move on the moment he was there no more. It wouldn't do any good to kill him and have Lucius Malfoy or any other take his place and continue his deeds. So he was going to be stuck here for more days he had intended to in the first place. That meant he would have to find a better hiding place. The Shrieking Shack was okay, but it was too risky with the passageway being there. Some student could run into him by pure luck, even with his wards around. He had one place in mind that could be used if he made sure it was safe. This place was none other than the Chamber of Secrets. If he managed to get rid of the basilisk, or get it under his control, that is if nobody had already slain it in this dimension, he was positive that he could transform the Chamber into something comfortable enough.

Once he was settled in, he would need to find some things about the recent history of this dimension, like who was the actual Minister, Voldemort's position, his forces, etc. As much he as he would hate to admit, this was information that you could not gather from newspapers or the conversations in the Leaky Cauldron. It seemed obvious that he would have to talk with someone about it, and someone well informed at that. The Headmaster was automatically discarded. The man was far too smart and curious for his own good, and Harry knew that he would try to manipulate him into an agreement of some sort. His next thoughts were Sirius and Remus, who Harry had trusted with his life in his previous stay at Hogwarts. But they were surely part of Dumbledore's Order and they would be probably looking for him and would inform the nosy Headmaster as soon as he attempted any contact. The same applied to his parents and the rest of the Order. Then he thought of his former friends. All of them except Ron would cower before him if he attempted to approach them. He was sure they had all seen his performance the day before. Seeing someone so powerful using such barbaric methods had obviously scared more than one. But Ron, having talked with him, and more importantly being saved by him, would be comfortable enough in his presence. Besides, if the twins were similar to how they were in Harry's dimension, Ron would know everything the Order knew. The same thing applied to his 'brother'. These two were the only possibilities, other than finding some high ranking Death Eater and make him spill his secrets, the easy way or the hard way. He wasn't sure what option should he pick. He did not enjoy the idea of kidnapping a person and torture him to get information, but he wasn't sure he wanted to have contact with the people he had known, or his family. That would mean seeing them regularly and reconstructing the bond that had been severed some years ago. He didn't want to become close to any of them, as he would have to leave the planet once he fulfilled his mission and he knew it would hurt to be separated again from them. Surely the Jedi Code would allow him to visit them, but he did not want to come to the situation when he had to choose between his life as a Jedi, which he enjoyed very much, and leave behind the friends he had made, or remain in the Earth with his family and former friend's counterparts. Having a family was the thing he had always dreamed of, so right now he was at a loss.

Then, when he was ready to finish Voldemort off, getting to him would not be much of a problem. If he managed to damage enough his forces, he should be able to draw him out of his lair using himself as bait. If not he could always let himself be captured, therefore being brought to his presence. But that was thinking too far ahead. Right now he had to inspect the Chamber of Secrets.

"Well R2. It seems we're going to stay here a while longer than I intended to. I'm going to Hogwarts to inspect a place into which we could move. Go get the fighter and maintain yourself close to my position. I might need a little help. Don't let yourself be seen."

.oOo.

Jack Potter and Ronald Weasley were currently sitting, silently, watching the seconds and minutes tick away in one of the dormitories of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, which served as the Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters, while their parents were talking with Dumbledore. The worst suspicions they had when called by McGonagall an hour ago, had come true. Their little excursion had been discovered. The portkey that McGonagall had given to them had taken them safely to the Library in Sirius old House, were Dumbledore was awaiting them. After having shown him the memories of the event and many minutes of questioning he had dismissed them without taking points or punishing them. He had also asked them to stay until the Order meeting. In normal circumstances they would have been reprimanded by their Head of House, lost some points and landed themselves in detention, but the fact that they had duelled Death Eaters certainly meant serious trouble coming from their parents. They were now making time until their parents came through the door and started bombarding them with obvious questions and reproaches. They were nervous, they felt as if they were some criminals awaiting the jury's verdict.

Hurried footsteps were heard on the stairs outside their room after some minutes of tense silence.

"That must be them." said Ron.

"You ready?" asked Jack.

Ron nodded and then the door flew open. Both Lily and Molly were the first to enter the room. They hurried to hug their sons and make sure for themselves that they were fine between indistinct sobs and reprimands. Their fathers' reactions were different. They stood there waiting for an explanation without getting into the sentimental stuff. Molly and Lily quickly took that attitude too. Sirius only stood at the door watching amusedly the whole show. Then there was an awkward moment of silence. The adults looked as if they were waiting for an explanation. Ron and Jack didn't know what to say. Everybody in the room knew what happened, so there was no need to discuss that, but unfortunately, their parents had a different opinion about that.

"So were you ever going to tell us?" James finally said, his arms crossed in across his chest. "Or would you have kept it in silence?"

"Dunno. We thought we would talk about it with Claire, Ginny, Neville and Hermione first, before doing anything."

"When something like this happens you go straight to see the Headmaster, the Aurors or at least, us!" exploded Lily.

"Yes. This is serious! You know that You-Know-Who has probably ordered to have you captured so you can tell him where that boy is?" Molly explained angrily.

"But we don't know where he is. We don't even know him." replied Ron, whose face had gone pale.

"Well it seems that he thinks otherwise. And that places you in great danger." Arthur said.

"Are you sure he'll come after us?" Jack asked.

"Probably. Unless he figures out another way to get to him." answered his father. "But don't worry. Professor Dumbledore is already figuring out some security measures for you two."

"Like what?"

"Dumbledore says that as long as you don't leave the school you'll be safe."

"So that means no more Hogsmeade weekends, for example."

"WHAT?" roared Jack.

"HE can't do that!" added Ron indignantly.

"Of course he can. And if he hadn't done it himself I would have surely done it in his stead. What did you think you were doing when you went all the way down to London?" Lily glared, especially at her son.

"We went to see a friend of ours. He..."

"...needed to see us." Ron finished the sentence.

"And he couldn't have come here?" Arthur asked.

"We agreed to meet him there."

"In Knockturn Alley? Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade is far safer. Especially nowadays." said James.

"We didn't intend to go into the Alley. When we left his house we couldn't apparate from inside the building. We thought that the privacy wards were deficient, so we went outside to try it from there. It was then when we got into the fight."

"Be that as it may, you're both lucky to be alive. Now, the Order is waiting for us." Sirius cut in.

"Okay. How are we getting back to the school?" Jack asked.

"You're not leaving yet." James said. "Dumbledore wants you in the meeting."

"Really?" asked Jack, beaming.

"Is he finally letting us join the Order?" Ron questioned further.

"Definitely not! It's too dangerous." Molly asserted loudly.

"But we're already adults." whined Ron.

"But you're still at school. When you graduate we shall talk about it."

"There won't be anything to talk about, Mum. I'll be an adult and out of school."

"Come on. Let's go to the meeting." Jack said.

.oOo.

Walter Crux appeared out of thin air and with a soft noise right in the middle of a small neighbourhood in the outskirts of London a few hours later that night. His palms sweaty, his knees weak, trembling slightly with each step, he managed to make his way to the door of one of the many matching houses. He took out his wand and after having swished with a complex pattern of wand movements, the door opened. He stepped inside and took a last glance outside, looking for anything suspicious. Contempt, he closed the door and took off hurriedly to the living room, where he expected to find his wife.

"Sarah! Thank Merlin, you're here. Pack your things. We are leaving!" he said upon entering the room, where his wife was sitting on the sofa.

"What? What do you mean we are leaving?"

"The Dark Lord discovered my heritage." he blurted out and she gasped.

"How did that happen?" she breathed.

"I was one of the few to complete successfully all the assignments that came my way. Some high ranking Death Eaters took notice of my progress and inform the Dark Lord. You know how the saying goes: '_The_ _nail_ _that __stands out_ _gets_ _hammered_ _down._' He has assigned me an impossible mission. If I don't complete it in time he'll kill me. And if I do, he'll kill me anyways for being a half-blood. And then he'll come after you and Allison." he placed a hand on her belly, "If we leave now we may have a chance."

"Wait. Is there no other way? Can't we go to Albus Dumbledore, or the Aurors?"

"No. The Ministry is filled with Voldemort's servants. As for Dumbledore, he'll ask me to join his ranks, in exchange for his protection. And if he the Light fails and You-Know-Who takes over we'll be in the same situation we are in right now. I don't want our little baby girl to lose her father even before his birth. I think that leaving is the only option."

"Okay..." she whispered.

"Don't pack too much. Leave all that can be spared behind. We'll have the chance to buy anything we need once we're out of the country."

"Ok. How and where are we leaving to?" she said while getting up and started summoning things and putting them in a trunk.

"I have a portkey to Heathrow Airport. We'll get out of the country the Muggle way. They won't be able to track us that way."

"What about my parents? Won't they be in danger too?"

"I've already contacted them. Right now they should be leaving the country. They promised to contact as once they arrived to their destination."

"Good. Which country did you have in mind?"

"None in particular. Southern Europe or the US, perhaps. As far as possible."

"Ok. I'm ready."

"Grab on."


	4. Action

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter 1

**phantombrick: **I am planning on Harry meeting them, but it won't be too soon. Maybe in about four chapters time. After having read many Harry going to another dimension fics, I think that the moment that Harry reveals his identity, the fics get much more boring and uninteresting.

_Thank you for all the reviews. I really appreciate them. _

**Chapter 4: Action**

"Let us start this meeting. Thank you all for coming after such a short notice, but I have many news I felt I should share with all of you. They all concern to the boy that aided us yesterday."

"You have him?" someone asked.

"No. But since his disappearance yesterday he has been sighted two times. The first of them was yesterday's evening. Madam Rosmerta informed me that a suspicious boy, who matched the description I provided her with, booked a room at her pub. After she had informed us, James, Kingsley and myself intruded his room. We found it empty despite knowing he hadn't been seen leaving. The second time, was this morning, when he became involved in another skirmish with Voldemort's Death Eaters."

"How do you know this?" asked Moody, the Head of the Auror Department. "My department has no news about such a fight."

"There were two other people involved in the fight. They were there by chance. Luckily they escaped unscathed." explained Dumbledore. Then he looked towards the door and opened it magically from his seat. Jack and Ron came into the room. "It is why I have invited them to attend this meeting. In the memories they've showed me, our 'friend' shows the same cruelness, yet effectiveness, that he displayed yesterday. He also has rare healing abilities, as he healed a large gash on young Mr. Potter's arm after the fight."

"And he's able to do wandless magic too. We all saw how he summoned that Death Eater into the way of the Killing Curse yesterday." added Moody.

"That also, Alastor. My friends, I think I am at a loss here. The boy is a mystery to me. I have never seen someone so powerful at such a young age. He has weapons that defy all of our previous beliefs and that go beyond our comprehension. The same goes for his healing abilities. I am open to suggestions. What do you think about him?"

"Could he be a vampire?" asked Pettigrew. "Vampires have incredible reflexes and are extremely fast."

"It's impossible. They are fast and agile, true, but they don't dispose of the means to create such a weapon. They live by old traditions so anything other than a simple sword or spear is far too modern for them."

"Yes, all that and the fact that they aren't able to withstand sunlight." added Lily.

"Some type of breed then?" asked Mundungus Fletcher.

"I do not think so. Humans that have other blood in them normally have distinguishable traits, such as Remus' gray hair or his slightly golden eyes. All I saw in that boy was normal. In fact I believe he might be a human, or a human with extremely rare powers that I do not recognise."

"Is he... dark?" asked Elphias Doge.

"Despite the cruelness that he showed I do not believe him to be dark."

"But Albus, he kill those Death Eaters without any mercy."

"However he didn't use any dark magic, did he?" said Dumbledore. "In fact, I haven't even seen him with a wand. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, did you see if he had a wand?"

"No, Sir. The only thing we saw him carry was his weapon."

"Haven't you already said that he can do wandless magic?"

"Yes, but anything over a simple summoning or banishing charm takes many energy, and magic to do so."

"Let us talk about that weapon. Did you see much of it?" inquired Moody.

"Not much, only when he had it out and was battling the Death Eaters. We only got a brief moment to look at it, but it looked like a small metallic tube with a small red button. When he pressed it the blue light came out. It stopped their spells without fault."

"Sirius, you had the weapon in your hands several minutes." James said, making Sirius speak up.

"It was as they have described it. Small metallic tube, wasn't too heavy, and I also noticed several markings on one of the edges."

"Runes?" asked Alice Longbottom.

"Numbers, and letters, displayed randomly in a line. They made no sense to me. I remember that it started with a 'J' then several numbers and finally 'CJCA'."

"That sounds like a serial number."

"What is a serial number?" asked James, saying what many of them were wondering.

"It's a Muggle concept. A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification of many items. Cars have it. They use it to know to which person the car belongs to."

"So this weapon is Muggle?" asked Frank Longbottom.

"It looks like it. If we could get the whole number, I could send it to a Muggle friend of mine. Maybe she can trace it back to the people who built it."

"Are you certain this will work?" asked Remus.

"If that thing has a serial number in it, it's definitely registered somewhere. Besides that, it's the best lead we have." Lily replied.

"Sirius check your memory and get the whole number. Give it to Lily." Dumbledore asked.

"Of course."

"Now we shall move to another urgent matter. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you may leave now as these other matters do not concern you. You're free to use the Floo in the Kitchen to get to your Head of House' Office."

"Yes, Sir." they said and marched out of the room.

.oOo.

Walter Crux and her wife, Sarah, who was carrying their unborn child, Allison, arrived to the Ministry Approved Magical Transport Site at Heathrow Airport, a large room with some muggle repelling and notice-me-not charms. This was the only spot of the airport that was not magically warded against any type of magical transportation. Many years ago, the Ministry of Magic had started warding all public Muggle places such as shopping malls, airports, train stations, the subway, football stadiums, etc, after a drunk wizard had managed to apparate without splinching himself in the middle of a Manchester United – Chelsea game with more than seventy thousand muggles present. Luckily, he appeared very close to the stands and had passed as a drunk hooligan who had invaded the field and little amount of fans had to be obliviated. Thankfully the Ministry, which at that time was being run by someone competent, took the hint after the incident and started warding many muggle public locations.

Walter led his wife through some empty corridors until they emerged into an enormous hall filled with people carrying suitcases and bags, some forming lines before the airline counters, some having a last coffee before they boarded, and others leaving the terminal. In an enormous blue plaque it said: _Terminal 5_. Sarah gasped as she took in the magnitude of the building. She had always thought of Hogwarts' Great Hall as the biggest room in the world, but this building could easily be bigger than the castle itself. She asked herself how could it be able to stand without magic sustaining it but she decided to ask her husband later as he seemed focused on getting them someplace and fast.

Walter, knowing how tight the security was in all airports, had buried their trunks safely in his pockets with some charms he had come up with to avoid the metal detectors at the security checks going berserk. They still wore their wizard robes. They had forgotten to do that when they were discussing their getaway. Although many passengers regard them with amused and puzzled glances, the couple did not notice them. They stopped behind the last person of the line that was formed at the customs check. While they waited patiently he took out two fabricated passports and prepared his wand to confound the customs official so they could pass.

"Here, take this." he said in a low voice to her wife handing her passport.

"What's this?"

"Shhh." It would be really weird if someone realised that Sarah did not know what a passport was. It would lead to awkward questions.

"What?" she asked looking annoyed. She didn't like him not explaining what was going on or what she was supposed to do.

"Just hold it and give it to that man on the seat over there." She took his words literally and instantly started walking towards the customs official, jumping the queue. Fortunately his husband was able to grab her by the wrist before the people who were waiting patiently in the line protested.

"Not now! When you get your turn." he hissed. "This line has formed for a reason. All these people are waiting to do exactly the same thing we're gonna do."

"Sorry!" she answered frustrated. "Will we be here too long?"

"It seems so. It looks like the man is very meticulous doing his job. Why do you ask?"

"I need to go to the loo. I'm starting to get sick again."

"There's one over there. Don't take too much time."

She watched her take off to the toilet thinking about how 'pure' magical people, such as his beloved wife, were helpless in the muggle world. Many wizards weren't capable to understand, or didn't want to, that muggle technology rivalled their magic in every sense. Wizards lived as they lived one thousand years ago. They haven't had any kind of evolution. While muggles had discovered electricity and used it to light whole cities, wizards' daily life was illuminated with traditional candles and the Lumos spell. While muggles used notebooks and pens, wizards still used the slow and irritating quill and ink method.

"I thought you would have known better than to run away like this." said a voice behind him.

"Brian!" he said when he turned to face the voice's owner.

"Walter..."

Brian Bishop, a Death Eater, was standing before him with a smug look on his face. He had been one of his closest friends since Hogwarts. He was the one that had finally managed to convince him to join the Death Eaters. Walter looked over the man's shoulder and glanced around. He spotted some other Death Eaters he knew, all looking at him expectantly, deadly expressions all over their faces and with their hands in their robes, presumably fingering their wands ready to fire at the slightest movement. He now understood. For a few seconds he had hoped that Brian, his 'friend', was here to help him although deep down he knew what was happening. After seeing he hadn't come alone the realisation that he had been watched and followed by Voldemort's minions came back drastically to his mind. But what hurt him more was the betrayal of his friend.

"Why, Brian? Have we not been friends all these years?"

"I'd never be friends with someone with the likes of you, Half-blood."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you my heritage. I was only doing it to protect –"

"Where is she?" the Death Eater cut him off.

"Where is who?"

"Your wife. We know you came here with someone, and since your house was searched after you left and there was nobody there, it is safe to presume she's here with you."

"Please leave her out of it. The Dark Lord knows she has nothing to do with it."

"Who said the Dark Lord also wanted her? Your wife will just be a little bonus to the reward I will receive for handing you in."

"You bastard! Don't you dare touch her..." he hissed. He started to look around desperately, looking for a way out. He instinctively looked to the Ladies Toilets and saw her. She had come out and she was concealing herself from view. She had obviously spotted them and was watching the argument. Luckily none of the Death Eaters noticed as he continued to look around. There were two directions in which he could run. He could try and make it to the portkey and apparition site, but that would mean dragging the Death Eaters along and blocking the only place from where her wife and future daughter could escape from. The other option was running through the customs check, leaving her a free route to get out of there. He knew this was the best option. He looked at her one last time with an apologetic and pleading look before he focused his view on the man in front of him again when he continued to threaten her wife.

"Tell me now and perhaps I will be the only one to have his way with your little whore."

"Fuck you!" he said.

He punched him in the guts, picked his wand and pointed it to the air, and cried some spell that created a tremendous noise which resembled a bomb going off. Instantly it all erupted into chaos. Her wife had taken the hint and was now running off to the portkey and apparition site. Thanks to the multitude of people running off the explosion she was able to slip through the Death Eaters. Walter started to run off deeper into the terminal, sorting out the avalanche of tourists running in every direction, knocking out with non-lethal spells whatever muggle opposition he encountered, while fighting off the Death Eaters, which were now all following him.

.oOo.

Nymphadora Tonks, or rather just Tonks, if you wanted to remain alive, was hurrying along the endless corridors of the Ministry of Magic towards the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, or DMLE for short. Normally she wouldn't work on Sundays, unless something really big, or bad, happened, but thankfully today she was only covering for one of her colleagues. She was a bit late, however his boss either didn't notice her slipping in late or he just decided to look the other way. As Sunday afternoons were normally calm and no major disturbances occurred, or so said the department's statistics, she decided to tackle the large pile of paperwork that stood at the corner of her desk. It ranged from last week's Thursday to last Saturday, when the largest attack of the last two months had occurred.

She eagerly took that file and starting writing a detailed two reports. The first explained the attack itself, how many had died, been injured, captured, etc. The second part was an exhaustive report that the Minister had demanded, about the mysterious figure that had aided them in the attack. As Dumbledore and his order, Minister Crouch, wanted to know who he was, which side was he on, although it already seemed obvious, and more importantly, what type of weapon he carried.

One hour later, and after checking many times her memories, and the memories of others about the events, she finally finished the first report. She had been careful not to mention Dumbledore's Order involvement during the fight. It was then, when she was about to banish the file to archives when just outside her office several inarticulate yells and sobs were heard. She darted to the door and opened it to find a blonde woman, not much older than herself, being attended by several other Aurors. She was seriously distressed. She seemed to be saying something about her husband, but she couldn't be sure as her words were difficult to discern with her continuous sobs. She felt pity for her, but she couldn't do anything. Two other Aurors were already in control of the situation, so she returned to her office. She sat down heavily in her chair and groaned when her eyes felt on the file pile again. She effortlessly banished the file and started filling up normal data for the following report, the one the Minister had asked for.

"Tonks." came a voice from the threshold, which had been opened after a brief knock. She raised her gaze from the file to the door and saw her boss, Kingsley Shacklebolt, standing there.

"Yes, Sir?" she replied.

"There is a current fight at Heathrow Airport going on between four or five Death Eaters."

"Between them? Nobody else involved?" she found that hard to believe.

"No. It seems one of them wanted to abandon Voldemort. I came here to ask you to inform _our friends_. The old man might be interested. They are at the boarding gates in terminal five. I'll take the team of Aurors the long way round, giving him a chance to get there first."

"Okay Sir. I'll get in touch with them. Good luck."

.oOo.

"Does anyone want to add something?" asked the old wizard to those who were sitting around him. They seemed tired. "Very well then. Meeting's over." This was welcomed by all members, who were eager to get some free time, as they had had hardly any for the past few days. When only a few of them were left they were startled by the sudden appearance of green flames in the office's fireplace.

"Albus!" came a voice from it. They all turned to see the head of Nymphadora Tonks sticking out of the fire.

"Nymphadora, how can I help you?"

"Heathrow Airport. Terminal 5. Boarding Gates. A Death Eater has defected and is being attacked by other Death Eaters. Kingsley said you might want to intervene. He's already there, but he'll go the long way round to buy you some time."

"I most certainly want to, Nymphadora." He said before turning to the Order people. "Any voluntaries to come with me?" he said while he motioned his phoenix to him.

"I'll go Albus." said Moody at once. Sirius and James looked at each other and the Sirius spoke up.

"We're coming too."

"Ok then. Everyone grab a feather from Fawkes."

Merely a few seconds later they appeared some feet away from a two on one duel between Death Eaters. Thanks to the Phoenix's way of travel, they were able to bypass the Ministry wards. Kingsley would still take some time to get there, but nevertheless, they couldn't get overconfident. Two more Death Eaters lay unconscious at the floor. They were quickly hit with disarming and body-binding spells.

"Concentrate your spells on the two Death Eaters that are attacking the third one, which is, I presume, the one that has defected. I want this one alive. He may have valuable information." announced Dumbledore. They all nodded. "Oh no..." he added before they could get to the fight.

Crux had managed to stun another one of the Death Eaters, but the other one had managed to disarm him afterwards and was now holding him, wand pointing at his neck, and using him as a human shield against them.

"Don't get any further! Or he dies!" he growled.

"Let him go. You've nowhere to run. Come with us and you might have a chance. Aurors are on the way." James said while taking a step forward.

"Don't come any closer! I swear I'll kill him." he roared.

"And then what?" Dumbledore asked softly. "You'll lose your shield and inevitably lose the duel against us. Then you'll be turned into the Aurors and likely the Kiss will be administered."

"SHUT UP!"

"Come on. Free him and we'll let you walk away."

"I don't believe you!"

"Nevertheless it's the only chance you have."

The Death Eater called Brian seemed to think it through. But they really didn't have the time.

"Aurors are coming..." said Moody in a sing song voice so unnatural in him.

"Ok. But I walk away!"

"Of course, my boy."

Brian started to put his wand down. As soon as it was no longer pointing at his neck, Walter hit his guts with his elbow, snatched his wand away from his hand and threw a Reducto into his side before the others could stop him. It blew a hole in the left of Brian's torso. He was rapidly stunned as well as Brian who was screaming in agony. They had to get him to Pompfrey.

Dumbledore called again for his phoenix and took them all to the Order's HQ.

.oOo.

Jack and Ron went straight to their Common Room the moment they arrived back at the castle. They wanted to find their friends desperately and share the news, but they didn't know where they might be. Thankfully, the Marauders Map was safely stored under Ron's bed so they decided to get it first. Being nearly time for dinner they found the Common Room almost deserted and after a brief glance they found the three girls along with Neville heading towards the Great Hall.

"Come on. If we use some shortcuts we might be able to catch up with them before they get there." said Ron taking off almost instantly.

If only they had looked a while longer to the Map, they would have seen a set of footsteps moving along the Shrieking Shack passageway towards the castle. This label belonged to Harry Potter, who was currently sneaking into the castle to inspect the Chamber of Secrets. He had considered sneaking in at night, but during dinnertime, when nearly everybody was eating would be fine. He came out of the Whomping Willow with his Invisibility Cloak over him and ran under the thick rain to the Entrance Hall. Many students were crossing it toward the Great Hall, however, after having used the Cloak for years he was able to slip through the crowds unnoticed and into an empty corridor that lead to the floor where the girl's bathroom and the entrance to the Chamber of secrets was located. He hurried along this corridor, eager to find out if the Chamber was suitable for his needs.

Then he heard the noise. It resembled a stone moving over another one, making a very characteristic sound. A shortcut was being open! He realized. Acting on instinct, he dived behind a suit of armour, not that he needed it right now being under the cloak, but nevertheless he remained there.

An opening appeared in the left side of the corridor, a few yards in front of him. From it, two figures appeared. At first he didn't recognise them, but when he heard their voices he realised. They were Ron, and his 'brother' Jack. Much to his dismay they stayed there, as if they were waiting for someone. He didn't like the idea of being stuck here, as he didn't want to risk being caught by them. They weren't prepared to see another Invisibility Cloak. Supposedly it was unique. However it was amusing to see them interact. It reminded of him and Ron in their first years, before everything had gone so wrong.

After a few minutes he heard footsteps heading their way. He saw Ron reaching into his robes and taking out a piece of old parchment. The Map! Harry's eyes widened fearing that he would be discovered. Luckily it didn't come to that as four figures emerged from the end of the corridor and Ron pocketed again the Map. It seemed obvious that he was going to check where these people were. Harry cautiously left the cover the armour provided him in order to see who this four people were. He shouldn't have been surprised when he saw them, knowing beforehand that it was really likely that he would meet them here, but unable to stop his reaction, his jaw dropped. They were Neville, Ginny, Hermione and another girl he didn't know. She was really beautiful. He even thought that if he stayed lived here in the Earth, she could perfectly be a girl he would go for. He didn't know that he would be later disgusted with himself after learning who she was.

"At last, guys!" said this girl.

"What was that note about?" Neville inquired.

"Long story." Jack said.

"Yeah. We'll tell you later. First I'm in the serious need of food." Ron added.

"You were much more eager to tell us when you interrupted our study hour!" reproached Hermione.

"Yeah what about you explain it to us over dinner, big bro." said Claire.

_What? Big Bro? _he thought. _She's Jack's sister then... she's my sister. Oh God! I have a sister too!_

"Not in the Great Hall. It's really serious and we don't want people to overhear us."

"Shall we'll go to the kitchen and grab some dinner and head to the Room then?" proposed Ginny. Ron agreed eagerly as House Elves would cook anything you wanted.

In a few seconds they were gone, although Harry still had to realise it. He was processing this new piece of information. He had a sister! That's one of the things he had ever wanted. While he was with the Dursleys and dreamed of having a proper family he always thought of having a Mum and Dad, and a sister. A brother never crossed his mind, he didn't know why, but it simply didn't. Maybe having lived with Dudley for so many years had something to do with it.

After a few seconds of utter shock, he finally picked himself up and marched to the girl's bathroom. He pushed the door open quietly. No one was in sight. Not even Moaning Myrtle. He walked up to the sink and checked that the tap had a snake carved in it.

"_Open up."_ he hissed in the snake tongue.

At once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into. He couldn't picture the great Hogwarts founder sliding into that slimy, damp and dark slope, so he deduced that this might be not the main entrance or at least there might be something to ease the way down. He started trying several magic revealer spells but when he didn't find anything that would help him, he just gave up and lowered himself slowly into the pipe, as he had done some years ago when he came down here with Ron. Just about when he was about to let go, an idea clicked in his mind. He wasn't sure if it would work, but heck, it was worth a try.

"_Stairs?"_ he hissed hesitantly in Parseltongue.

His eyes lightened up proudly when a spiraled staircase appeared in the pipe. This certainly made things easier. He also discovered that asking for 'light' in Parseltongue, produced a torch every few steps so he didn't have to resort to the Lumos spell. The way down went a lot better this time, albeit slower. Eventually he reached the bottom of the slope and appeared in a small tunnel. It was just as he remembered it. A few hundred feet ahead was where he and Ron found the basilisk skin, only which in this world it wasn't there. And then the last door until you got to the definite chamber. It wasn't really a door, it was a solid wall on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds, which would open when the easy password was spoken. He passed through it and emerged into the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. Not liking the shadowy look, summoned again some torches to light up the place. It was really impressive as he first saw it, but it was utterly breathtaking when you could see it completely illuminated. In between the pillars that flanked the chamber, Harry noticed lots of small and beautifully decorated rooms. Last time, he had mistaken them for other pipes, as he couldn't see past the shadows at their thresholds.

He pulled out his Lightsaber, without igniting it, and moved cautiously forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes open. After facing the basilisk the first time he had learned that it's gaze was harmless to Parselmouths. Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall. Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. That was where the basilisk had come from the last time when Riddle had called for it. He remained standing for a few minutes, silent and alert. There was no sound to be heard apart from the occasional water drop that fell from the ceiling. The basilisk didn't seem to be unleashed in the chamber. So he would have to summon it. He took a few more steps towards the great statue and after remembering the exact words that Riddle had used, he spoke out clearly in Parseltongue.

"_Speak to me, Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!"_

The statue's mouth started to open, making a huge black hole. He could see clearly something stirring inside the statue's mouth. The basilisk was slithering from its depths.

"_Salazar? Is that you?"_ came the serpent's voice. It seemed old and tired.

"_No."_ Harry hissed back, somewhat dumbly. He hadn't spoken with anything so big and dangerous before, well that's if you don't take into account Hagrid's hungry Acromantula at the Forbidden Forest. Truth is Harry wanted to avoid confrontation with the mighty beast if he could. It would be unnecessary trouble to dispose of it and such a waste, as it was surely one of the last living specimens.

"_Then who are you and how can you speak the serpent tongue? The only person who knows is my Master Salazar. He learned it from myself."_

"_My name is Harry Potter. I'm Salazar Slytherin's sole Heir."_

"_Heir, you say?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Then you'll be able to tell him that it has been a long time since the last time he came and visited. I'm most disappointed in him." _replied the basilisk in an annoyed manner. This confused Harry. He felt as if he was talking with someone really old who had started having memory loss. The snake was talking of Slytherin as if he was still alive, and that was impossible.

"_I'm sorry to have to say this, but I'm afraid Salazar Slytherin died many years ago."_

"_What?"_

"_We wizards only live up to a hundred and thirty years, give or take, some of them even make it to two hundred. But it's been like a thousand years since the time of Slytherin. He died many years ago."_

"_I'm sorry to hear that. I've been wondering for many years why he suddenly stopped coming to visit. No one has entered this Chamber since then."_

"_Not even Riddle?" _Harry blurted out before he could stop himself.

"_I know not of this person you speak, Master."_

"_Master?"_

"_You're my Master's Heir, so you became my Master the second you were born." _

"_Err… Ok, I guess."_

"_Are there others like you, young Master?"_

"_Others?"_

"_Other descendants of my former Master's family? Your family surely speaks my tongue as you do. If you're his heir, then your family must be descended from him."_

"_I'm only his magical Heir. There is one who was his Heir and was descended directly from him."_

"_I'd very much like to meet him. Why isn't he the Heir then?"_

"_He bestowed that honour upon me and gave me the ability to speak to snakes when I was young." _explained Harry. This seemed to have angered the big snake.

"_How?" _hissed the basilisk angrily.

"_He placed a piece from his soul inside me to ensure his immortality."_

"_He made you into a Horcrux?"_

"_Yes."_

"_That's the most evil piece of magic! My Master would be outraged to hear this. What is his name?"_

"_Tom Riddle. Although he calls himself Lord Voldemort now?"_

"_Lord Voldemort? Only the heads of pureblood families can be Lords, and Voldemort is not a pureblood house, as far as I'm concerned."_

"_It's only a nickname. It's an anagram of his true name." _Harry replied as he did the same trick Riddle had done. When the letters rearranged themselves to 'I am Lord Voldemort' the snake nodded.

"_I see."_

"_Riddle now terrorises the magical world in a crusade to get rid of all those who aren't pureblood. He changed his name to hide his own origins. He is a half-blood." _

"_My Master would be most disappointed in him." _the basilisk sighed.

"_Wasn't Salazar Slytherin also against 'Mudbloods'?" _Harry asked, saying the word 'Mudblood' with a pang of guilt in his voice.

"_Don't say that word!" _the basilisk roared._ "Salazar surely didn't believe in such a thing. He taught me to never judge a wizard for its heritage."_

"_Magical History books explain that he only wanted Purebloods to attend Hogwarts. They say that yours and this chamber purpose was to kill any Muggleborn who stepped into the school."_

"_Lies! That was the story that the other Founders wrote."_

"_It's the winners who write history_..." Harry said to himself after seeing the basilisk's react indignantly.

"_Yes. It's true that Salazar didn't want Muggleborns in the school, but his reasons were not associated to blood purity. The school was first built as an elitist school. There were too many schools around the world. Hogwarts intended to show all those students more advanced magic once they finished school. Very few Muggleborn children attended those schools, so Slytherin didn't want them to attend the school without knowing any magic. They would slow down the other students. As it was a logical and well thought reason, the other Founders agreed. But then after a pretty serious fight with Godric for a reason that I no longer remember, and the discovery that he was able to talk to snakes and that he had me as a familiar, ruined his reputation. Snakes have always scared humans, so naturally they hate our existence. That's were our bad fame comes from. After that, Salazar was banished from the school. The Founders sealed the entrance to this Chamber."_

"_The Founders knew about this Chamber? Books say he built it as payback after he was banished from Hogwarts."_

"_Certainly not! This Chamber is an escape route from the castle. Knowing that Slytherin had left me here to guard it, the Founders sealed both exits to trap me here. They never talked of it to anyone. What they did proclaim is that he had been kicked out because he hated Muggleborns."_

"_You've said both exits?"_

"_Yes. The first one connects the Chamber to the castle. The entrance is situated at the Entrance Hall. It was disguised but they built another wall in front of it so that anyone could unlock it by chance. The other one is a tunnel that connects the Chamber to Hogsmeade. They demolished it."_

"_What about the entrance at the girl's bathroom?"_

"_Luckily Slytherin built four entrances instead of two. The girls bathroom was an auxiliary exit to the castle, while at the feet of thee cliff where the castle stands, another entrance was made."_

"_How come no one has noticed it? I mean, the other one is disguised as a sink. What's the disguise for the other one?"_

"_It's an illusion. You see that wall over there?" the basilisk said looking to a wall on Harry's right._

"_Yes."_

"_It's not really a wall. You can walk easily through it. You'll find the lake at the other side. There's a small pathway that leads to the way up to Hogwarts from Hogsmeade."_

"_You mind if I.." _Harry said gesturing to the wall. He wanted to inspect it.

"_Go ahead."_ replied the basilisk.

"_How big is it?"_

"_It covers all of the wall."_

Harry nodded. He walked through and felt the same wave of magic he had felt every year when crossing the barrier to the Hogwarts Express. He found himself in a small shore, about four feet wide. This was the pathway the basilisk had mentioned. The Chamber seemed good enough. An idea was forming in his mind. He had to find out if the barrier was big enough for his Jedi Fighter to pass through it. The Chamber was the perfect place to hide himself as well as R2 and the Fighter.

.oOo.

"Ok, so start talking." said Ginny while they were all enjoying a customized at the Room of Requirement. Jack, seeing Ron too busy with his steak, decided to start the tale.

"It all starts when we left this morning. As you all know now, thanks to Ginny's enormous mouth," Ginny conjured a pillow and threw it at him. "we went to get some booze. It all goes well until it's time to leave. We try to apparate but we find antiapparition wards there and we're unable to get out. Our supplier said that the security wards of his building were a bit... how did he put it?"

"I think he said 'rather weak and unpredictable'".

"Yeah that's it. So we decided to go outside to try it from there."

"You lazy arses. Since you got your apparition licenses you fairly walk at all." said Claire.

"Yeah, I think you're even beginning to grow sideways from the lack of exercising." Ginny teased.

"We'll have you know that we're very fit, thank you very much." Ron replied.

"Besides we compensate with our Quidditch practice." Jack added.

"Well, fat or not, you're lazy arses whatever you say. It doesn't take that much time to get from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. There's no need to apparate..." said Hermione annoyed.

Jack and Ron exchanged a brief glance. They didn't need Hermione to find out about them going to London, instead of Hogsmeade, which was already outrageous for her.

"So going back to the matter at hand, when we got outside we..."

"We sort of ran into a group of Death Eaters." Jack provided. All of them gasped.

"How did they know you were there?"

"They didn't know we were there. They weren't looking for us."

"Who were they looking for then?" asked Neville.

"For the guy that yesterday kicked their ass." Jack explained.

"You mean, the one of the newspapers, the one from the attack?"

"Yes, that one."

"So what happened?"

"They saw us and started firing spells at us. Thankfully we were able to refuge behind a low wall."

"Wait, how many of them were?" Neville asked.

"About fifteen?" Jack asked his mate.

"Yeah, something like that." Ron confirmed.

"How are you alive?" blurted Claire.

"Well, someone came along and helped us out."

"The Order?"

"No. The Order didn't show up at all. They didn't learn about the attack until much later."

"How is that possible? I mean, Fred told us that they have many Aurors and Order members in the village. How come they didn't notice there was something going on?"

Jack and Ron exchanged a brief glance, again. Ginny saw it and she realised what was going on.

"You weren't in Hogsmeade were you?"

"Err, not really."

"WHAT?" cried Hermione, standing up from her chair.

"Then where did you go?" Claire asked.

"It's obvious isn't it? Diagon Alley." said Neville.

"It can't be Diagon Alley. Word would have reached us if Death Eaters were seen around Diagon Alley, especially in such big numbers." Ginny said.

"So?" inquired Claire looking at both boys.

"A side alley in Knockturn Alley."

"WHAT?" they all answered at the same time.

"What the fuck where you doing there?" Neville asked.

"Look, we don't normally go into the alley. We usually apparate directly into the building, but as we said we had to go down into the alley to get out of there."

"So who helped you?" Ginny inquired.

"After we took refuge behind the low wall, they surrounded us, but thankfully he appeared."

"The same guy as yesterday. The one they were looking for. He came out of nowhere and in seconds he had already disposed of half of them. "

"The Death Eaters directed all their spells at him, so we managed to bring a couple of them ourselves. When he was done he asked us to apparate him out of there. He can't apparate. Can you believe it? He's capable of all that and he can't apparate."

"Where did you take him?"

"Hogsmeade. He told us he's staying at the Three Broomsticks."

"What more did he say?"

"Not much. He told us in some vague terms that he didn't want to be found."

"Did you get his name?"

"Err...no. Although I doubt he would have told us. The guy seems to really like his anonymity."

"The note that McGonagall gave you before, was it about this?"

"Yeah. Dumbledore learned about the attack, although I don't know how. They took us to HQ. We talked to Dumbledore first. He asked us to submit our memories of the event so he could study them in detail. After that our parents came, and you can all imagine..."

"Yeah. No Hogsmeade weekends, for starters. They think that Voldemort will be after us, thinking there's some connection between us and him."

"Then, we were invited to the Order Meeting?"

"What? You gotta be kidding me!" said Ginny.

"That's unfair! We want to join too!"

"We didn't join. Dumbledore wanted us to be present while they discussed the problem. When they moved into another topic they invited us to leave."

"Do they have any leads?" asked Hermione.

"There was this inscription in the weapon he uses, composed by letters and numbers. Mum said it was a... serious number, or something like that."

"A serial number?"

"Yes! That."

"It's good news. There's a big chance they'll be able to track it down to the maker."

"That's what my mother said. Although I don't think they're doing the right thing trying to find him." Jack said.

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"The guy saved our lives, as well as Sirius' yesterday. He told us explicitly that he didn't want to be found. I feel bad for being dragged into a meeting and discuss plans to apprehend him."

"Yeah, I agree. I think that he should come to us if he wants, not the other way round." Ron agreed.

"But he killed many Death Eaters. He can be an asset."

"Only if he wants to. Nobody should be forced to fight a war, whether they are powerful or not." Jack said, ending the conversation, as they had all seen that they had made him angry by wanting the guy caught.

.oOo.

"Take this one to the holding rooms downstairs." said Moody when they all had arrived back to Grimmauld Place. "We'll question the other one up here."

"Moody, go fetch some Veritaserum."

"Dumbledore!" said Tonks after entering the room across the fireplace. "Did you get them?"

"We got two of them. We're going to start questioning one of them right now." James explained.

"Do you have their names, or any other information Tonks?" asked Sirius.

"The one that was trying to change sides is called Walther Crux. It must be that one, he's blond." she said looking to the man who was unconscious on a chair. "He was trying to leave the country with her pregnant wife. She was the one to alert the Aurors. Should I bring her here?"

"No. Keep her at the Ministry until we have cleared all this mess. I'll call you if I fell her presence is needed here." Dumbledore said.

"Got it." She said before dissaparating.

"Wake him." the headmaster said to his former students.

"Enervate!" cried Sirius.

The man took several seconds to come to his senses. He rubbed his eyes, sat up on his chair and started observing his surroundings.

"Where am I?" was the first he managed to say.

"You're somewhere safe, which should suffice you for the time being." said Dumbledore.

"Headmaster?"

"Hello Mr. Crux."

"Got the Veritaserum Albus." announced Moody when he entered the room.

"Wait! What? Veritaserum? It's illegal to use it on someone without the Minister's approval!"

"It's also illegal to go around killing innocents but you do so, don't you Death Eater!"

"I'm not a Death Eater anymore. And I haven't killed an innocent in all my life!"

"But you have killed..." Sirius observed.

"Only in big battles with Aurors. I killed some, but I've never used an unforgivable I swear!"

"Let the confessions for later, when you have taken the Veritaserum."

"Come on Mr. Crux. Only three drops. If your answers satisfy us, you'll be free to walk away." Dumbledore said with a soft voice. Crux hesitated but finally accepted and stuck out his tongue, where Moody poured three drops.

"Name?"

"Walther Crux."

"Age?"

"27."

"Ok, so what were you and your wife doing at the airport?"

"We were leaving the country. Is she okay? Is she safe?"

"I assure you she's well. She's in the Auror Headquarters right now." replied Dumbledore.

"So why were you leaving the country?" Moody continued.

"Voldemort will kill me."

"Why?"

"I'm a half-blood. He despises all who aren't of pure blood. He learned about my heritage and gave me a mission. An impossible one. If I failed, my punishment would be death. If I succeeded I was sure he would kill me anyway because of my Muggleborn father."

"What mission did he give you?"

"I had to find out about the boy that defeated his forces yesterday afternoon. He thinks that his weapon is made by muggles. He assumed that my connection to do the Muggle world would get him some answers."

"And did you get any?" James asked.

"No. It's an almost impossible task to find out something about it. If I had time and unlimited resources maybe I would be able. But all he gave me was a week's time."

"So you cowered and decided to flee."

"Yes."

"What happened at the airport?" Dumbledore asked.

"We were waiting to board the plane when the Death Eaters appeared. I knew personally one of them, the one that held me as a shield. At first I thought he was there to help me, but he betrayed me. I fear he had been following me ever since I left the Dark Lord's presence."

"Why did you join the Death Eaters?"

"Fear, I guess. The Dark Lord's influence and power grows steadily. I thought it would be best to be in the winning side."

"A long time will pass until the winning side is decided." Dumbledore spoke.

"I know. It was a reckless and foolish decision to make. All my friends had also joined so..." Dumbledore nodded softly in understanding.

"I understand. I am pleased with your answers; however I cannot let you leave until we have talked to the other Death Eater. James, show him to his room."

"Thank you, Headmaster, for coming to help me and for understanding me."

.oOo.

"_What do you think of it, Master?"_ inquired the basilisk when Harry came back to the Chamber through the entrance.

"_It's an impressive piece of magic. I like it."_

"_I agree."_

"_Can I ask you a question?"_

"_Of course, young Master."_

"_Did Slytherin give you a name? I wouldn't want to call you snake, or basilisk, all the time."_

"_He didn't give me mine. However, it was me that gave him his. I named him after myself."_

"_Your name is Salazar?"_

"_Yes. My kin and I found him when he was only five years old. He was an orphan and didn't know his real name. We took him in and showed him our tongue through an ancient parsel magic ritual which only basilisks can do. I took a liking to him, and the other way round, so I decided to bond myself to him. When he was accepted into one of those magical schools, we parted ways as he couldn't take me with him. Those were the worse years of my life. Humans hunted my race until I was the only one left alive. Salazar hid me when he finished his magical education. When he built Hogwarts and the Chamber and invited me to live in it."_

"_I never knew that. I bet very few people know this story."_

"_I think there are only two beings that know it, and they are both inside this chamber." _said the basilisk. Harry laughed in understanding.

"_I've been meaning to ask you, Salazar, would you mind if I came to live here? For a while..."_

"_I'd be honoured, Master. Besides, I would like the company. It's been nearly a thousand years since I last had contact with my former Master."_

"_Good. An 'associate' of mine will be arriving here shortly, along with all of my possessions. He'll come across the entrance. Is that okay with you?" _

"_I am okay if that is what Master pleases, although I don't like other humans who aren't related to you or my former Master coming here."_

"_You don't have to worry about that, my friend. My companion, R2, isn't exactly human. You could say he is hardly a living being. He is an object that can carry out tasks for me. He understands my orders."_

"_A sentient object?"_

"_Yes. Kind of. Although he isn't powered by magic. He is powered by other means that many in this world do not know of."_

"_Interesting."_

Right then, his fighter appeared through the entrance, R2 flying it.

"_Definitely interesting."_ The snake added.


	5. Diversion

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Harry Potter and everything recognizable belongs to J K Rowling.

**Chapter 5: Diversion**

Harry sat in one of the comfy armchairs in the Chamber. He had an open book in his lap and two more on the coffee table beside him. Actually he wasn't reading, his eyes were looking into the empty space in front of him, thinking about his last few days here in the Earth. It was Thursday now. He had been living with Salazar during the last week and a half. During this time, Harry had been busy gathering information on Voldemort and his regime, and exploring and cleaning the Chamber of Secrets. It looked like this mission would take him some time, so he didn't want to live in a dark and moist cave. Salazar's chamber was undoubtedly big. No, it was massive. The long chamber where he had found Ginny the last time was only a small part of the structure. It served as an entrance hall. From there many corridors led to many more rooms. Harry spent countless hours exploring the whole compound. He got lost a few times, but thanks to his serpentine friend he was able to find his way back. During these two weeks he had found two potions labs, a few bedrooms, an armoury with a contiguous training room, some stables, a kitchen, a dining room and many other things. It was truly a fortress built within the castle. But the room that he was most amazed with, at first, was the library. The personal library of Salazar Slytherin! It was easily three times bigger than the school's one. Unfortunately, when Harry started inspecting its books, he found that they were all heavily damaged by the Chamber's humid atmosphere and probably too many years without no-one taking care of them. Surely Slytherin had placed spells to protect them, but even these didn't seem to be everlasting. It was a major disappointment. How much could he have learned here! Despite this flaw, he still found the library a suitable use. He stored his own books there. Some were his old school books which he had read time and time again. Some others, he had bought recently to learn more about the recent history of this dimension and learn more about magic, magical transportation specifically. He had left the Earth when he was only a fifteen year old, so he couldn't apparate or make Portkeys, but now that was different. The fighter was fine for intergalactic travels, but Portkeys and Apparition would come in very handy when he only had to travel between two spots on the same planet. Not to mention the edge that apparition would give him in combat.

The book that lay open in his lap was one of the only ones that had information on these kind of travels. He snapped out of his thoughts and started reading the book. He checked the index and sought the page that referred to Apparition. It was a few pages long and he browsed through the titles of the different sections. '_Early History of Apparition, Splinching, Apparition Law, Tests, and Restrictions.' _This couldn't be right. In seven pages of Apparition, it didn't even explain how to apparate. He spent the next minutes reading the 'Tests' section, where, much to his dismay it explained that only Ministry Approved Teachers could teach how to do it. To publish the method in a book, or teach someone without the necessary authorisation was illegal. Anyone caught Apparating without a license would tell under Veritaserum where he had learned to do it. Harry cursed thrice the Ministry. He skipped then to the Portkey chapter, but he found it had the same restrictions when being taught how to create them. He would have to find some way to learn all this stuff. Disappointed, he grabbed one of the History books and looked for something that would help him, but he didn't find anything. It had been like this the last few days. He had gone through lots of information, all of it useless. He hadn't discovered anything more than the fact that he had been kidnapped and murdered. He didn't find any reason why anywhere, although he suspected why, the Prophecy existed here too. He was at a stalemate. It was time for other tactics. He needed to know if the Prophecy really existed here or if his _'alter ego_' had been murdered for nothing. Obviously it was kept secret, so he would have to go to the person that would certainly know about it. Albus Dumbledore.

.oOo.

"_Hey, Sal?"_ Harry called out in the chamber.

"_Yes Master?"_

"_I'm going out. I'll be back by dinner time at most." _said Harry while grabbing his brown Jedi cloak.

""_Where are you going Master?"_

"_I have to see someone. I need information. By the way, did you find out anything new this morning?" _he asked the basilisk.

"_Only some upcoming events taking place in the school."_ Salazar answered. Since he had been awakened by Harry he enjoyed slithering through the different pipes around the school. They were a great place to eavesdrop the conversations that Hogwarts students and professors had in the corridors.

"_What events?"_

"_On Saturday they are having another match of this crazy sport you play up in the air."_

"_Quidditch." Harry provided._

"_And the day after that the Headmaster has scheduled another weekend in the village for the students."_

"Perfect..." said Harry to himself. _Thanks for the information."_

"_I'll see you later."_

Harry left the chamber through the hidden entrance at the bottom of the cliff. The path that led to Hogsmeade was narrow and wet. He progressed slowly. He didn't want to fall into the water. Once this part of the path was cleared, he followed the pathway that connected Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. It was a short walk so in no time he was at the outskirts of the wizarding village. He went into the woods and walked under the trees' shadows until he got to the other side of the village, where the pub was. He hadn't wanted to risk crossing the village. He could have been sighted before he wanted to. When he was certain no-one was looking his way, he crossed at a steady pace the distance between him and the pub. He pushed open the door and went in. It wasn't very crowded. Only Madam Rosmerta's employee, who seemed oblivious to his entrance, a couple having some tea and woman, about fifty years old, who was sitting alone in one of the tables in the corner. He saw her knock accidentally the sugar when she was reaching for the milk. Harry smirked.

He walked up to the counter and ordered two glasses of Firewhiskey. Then he made his way towards that woman and he saw her tense up as he approached her.

"I don't think that hair colour looks good on you..." Harry started, taking the seat opposite from her and placed one of the two Firewhiskey glasses in front of her. "... Nymphadora."

She straightened up suddenly at the mention of her name. _How did he know her name? How did he know it was her sitting there? _She reached into her robes and grabbed her wand. Harry was already prepared and casted a silent Petrificus Totalus at her underneath the table. He looked around to see if anybody had noticed the disturbance. The couple hadn't noticed and the waiter didn't seem to have noticed either as he waived happily to them. Harry returned the gesture with a fake smile plastered all over his face and returned his attention to his companion.

"Well Nymphadora, I can call you Nymphadora, right?" he said tauntingly before taking a large sip of the wizarding liquor. She glared at him. A person under a full body bind could move their eyes only.

"This is so good!" Harry said eyeing his glass when she didn't answer. "It's impolite to ignore a drink that someone else has bought you, you know?" continued Harry with his taunts making her glare intensify.

"I want you to deliver a message, Nymphadora. Tell Dumbledore that I wish to meet him. I'll be waiting for him here, at this table, at noon next Sunday. Tell him that I have important information to share with him. Will you be able to do that? Good!" he said.

Tonks watched him angrily, swearing she would get his little revenge on that git. She loved Firewhiskey, and she hadn't enjoyed the little show he had performed. And nobody except her parents, got away with calling her Nymphadora. As soon as he crossed the threshold, the spell was lifted. She got up and bolted to the door. She found no-one when she stepped out of the pub. She sighed, cursed her luck and apparated away.

.oOo.

After breakfast on Saturday, a couple of hours before the Quidditch match, Dumbledore had scheduled the umpteenth Order Meeting iMany of its members often wondered why they had joined, but then their thoughts drifted to their fallen friends. Little by little the large sitting room of Grimmauld Place filled up with wizards.

"Thanks again, my friends, for coming. Today we have much to discuss." announced Dumbledore.

"Albus," interrupted Lily. ", we have heard that you have finally come in contact with that boy. Is it true?"

"I'm afraid that I haven't, Lily, although he has contacted me and scheduled a meeting."

"When?" Sirius interrupted.

"Tomorrow."

"But there's a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow." said James.

"How will we cover both Hogsmeade and wherever you're meeting him?" added Frank Longbottom. "We are very few, Albus, and I wouldn't like to deny the students the extra protection we can give them."

"You're right. You're both right. But we won't need to divide our forces. It will be at noon at Madam Rosmerta's pub."

"And you agreed to that?! Albus it could be dangerous for the students! What happens if anything goes wrong and he attacks you?" Kingsley remarked.

"I'm with Kingsley in this one Albus." Moody declared.

"I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice. It was Cooper who established the time and venue of this encounter. That's why I've called you here, so we can setup some safety measures." When he saw that nobody spoke and looked doubtful he spoke again, with renewed vigour. "We have to make this meeting happen. We are losing this war! This Harry Cooper, he's been avoiding us for nearly two weeks now. He has showed not only great skills in combat with that weapon of his, but with his sharp mind. We need all the help we can get, and if we manage to get him to fight alongside us we could be able to turn the tide. So I want to hear some strategies to defend the students and ensure he can't escape." he finished with authority. Silence followed Dumbledore's little speech. Bill Weasley was the one to break it.

"We can place some of us inside the pub, as well as at all the exits." he proposed.

"Including the Floo." Arthur added.

"We should talk to Rosmerta. He can give him a table of our choice, one which is apart from the rest."

"That won't work. It was me who he made deliver the message." Tonks spoke up. "He picked a specific table and made sure I would tell Dumbledore."

"And why didn't you capture him!" barked Moody.

"Because he petrified me before I could even take my wand out."

"I think we should contact her anyway." said Lupin. "We could book the nearest tables and post some of us there."

"And she could block the Floo once he gets inside." added Fred.

"It is settled then. James, Remus and Sirius will be in the nearest tables, under disguise. I want Dung covering the stairs and Doge at the door. The rest of you will be at your usual posts during Hogsmeade weekends with the exception of Alastor and Kingsley. I want you directly outside the post, where you can get quickly wherever you're needed. Just outside the pub should suffice." Dumbledore declared.

"Got it." said Kingsley.

"Now, concerning Mr. Cooper's weapon, have you found out anything new, Lily?"

"Nothing. I spoke to my Muggle friend. She works for the Government and has access to many confidential files. He ran the serial number through many databases but nothing came up."

"What's a database?" asked Pettigrew.

"It's a 'place' where Muggles keep loads of data. The Government has access to many databases apart from their own, so if nothing came up it means that it's top secret, or it comes from another country."

"What about magical Ministries? Have you tried those?" asked George Weasley.

"Nothing from there either. Besides, they don't use serial numbers."

"So if it isn't muggle, and it isn't magical either, where did this guy come from?" Fletcher asked.

"I didn't say that Muggles aren't behind it. I said that it' isn't Muggle and British."

"Aren't there any more places to check?"

"One or two still. I'll tell you if something important comes up."

"Then that's it, my friends, there are no other matters to discuss. I know you are all eager to see the match so I won't keep you any longer."

.oOo.

Dumbledore arrived at the door of the Three Broomsticks at precisely twelve o'clock, as he and Harry had accorded. He was escorted by James and Sirius, who were under the invisibility cloak. Apart from that, all the Order was staged through the village, with five members posted outside the pub, ready to come in at a moment's notice, so if the conversation got out of control, he had a little army at his disposal. He pushed the door open and crossed the threshold, leaving the door open enough time so James and Sirius could come in. The pub was crowded with students. This wasn't good for them. If things didn't go well, as which Dumbledore thought to be a likely situation, it'd be too risky to attack him here with all the innocent lives around them. Now he understood why the young man had requested their meeting here. Too noisy so they wouldn't be overheard, and too crowded so he was relatively safe from his Order. He had to admit that the boy was incredibly smart.

"Ah, Albus!" Madam Rosmerta greeted the old wizard.

"Hello, dear. How are you this fine morning?"

"Extremely busy, but fine. Days like these are a blessing. With one Hogsmeade day from the school we do as much money as in a whole month."

"I know, people's fear grows every day. Many people do not dare abandon the safety of their homes anymore." Rosmerta just nodded solemnly in agreement.

"I won't take any more of your time. I'm only here to meet Mr. ..., what was his name again?"

"Cooper, Harry."

"Yes, Harry. Can you tell him I've arrived?"

"He's not here yet. But he said he might be slightly late, but nothing to worry about. He left this behind, for you to drink, while you wait." She said taking out a bottle of the most expensive liquor the pub had. "He booked that table on the corner over there."

"Thanks Rosmerta. Don't forget about the Floo."

.oOo.

Harry pocketed the Marauder's Map, and crept out of the Chamber. It was five to twelve. He had little time. He walked through the different corridors of the castle without making noise, as fast as he could. He had to avoid many students that wandered around the castle, mainly first and second years, as they weren't allowed in Hogsmeade. He came across some professors as well. He saw some Professors he knew, like Snape, who nearly caught him, or Grubby-Plank, and a couple of others he didn't know.

After some minutes of this silent walking, he arrived at his destination, which of course wasn't Hogsmeade or any path that would take him there. In fact, he was standing before the Gargoyle statue that guarded Dumbledore's Office. He tried some sweets as password, but it seemed this Dumbledore didn't share his counterpart's love for candy. After a few fruitless attempts he started considering the possibility of chopping off a piece of the statue to go through, but that wouldn't be very discrete. He tried 'ordering' the gargoyle to move using the Force's power. It did, although he hadn't expected it to. Statues didn't have a mind you could control as humans had, but then again, he was in a magical place, were the impossible happened.

He quickly climbed through the stairs and halted outside the door. He checked the Marauder's Map once again. The office was empty. He entered and glanced around in awe at the office. It was much like the one in his world. It was a very beautiful, circular room, lined with pictures of the previous Headmasters and mistresses of Hogwarts, all whom were awake. Harry didn't mind if they told Dumbledore who had broken into his office. Once Dumbledore discovered he had been played, he would know it had been Harry. He stopped his glancing around and got down to business. He left the Map, open, in the Headmaster's table. He would check it once in a while to see if anyone was coming his way. After that, he went to the nearest piece of furniture he could move, and placed it in front of the fireplace. Dumbledore would be in for a little surprise if he tried to Floo in.

Then he started to look around. Harry's Dumbledore had his Pensieve behind a black cabinet. He didn't remember well were it was, but after some minutes, he finally found it. And with it, an entire box filled with vials that contained memories. They were all tagged with a date and topic. He started going through the dates. It was the logical thing to do since they were arranged that way. Some were even dated from late nineteenth century. Those would be certainly interesting to see. Perhaps another time, because right now he had to find Dumbledore's memories on two dates. Two dates that in his dimension had dictated his fate.

.oOo.

'_Ten past twelve. What's taking him so long?' _Dumbledore asked himself. The pub was getting more and more crowded with students. He was starting to doubt that they would be able to have a conversation with the clatter going on around them. He looked briefly at James and Sirius, seeing through their Invisibility cloak. They were sitting in the table to his right. Remus Lupin was under a glamour charm in the table in front of him having a cool butterbeer. They nodded at him. They were ready. Dumbledore checked his other two associates. Elphias Doge and Mundungus Fletcher were also in position. _'Good. He'll have no way out. Maybe I'll manage to convince him to join us._' After observing the pub for a few minutes he was starting to grow impatient. The old headmaster took a look at the bottle of liquor Harry had provided him with and shrugged at himself._ 'Why not?'_ He opened the bottle and checked its contents with several diagnosis spells. It wasn't spiked. He didn't think it would be, but being this paranoid had saved him from some very nasty accidents in the past.

Several more minutes passed while Dumbledore savoured his drink and the crowd continued to grow, and still no sign of the stranger. The old wizard saw James and Sirius move their chairs until they were close enough to have a conversation with him.

"Are you sure he's coming Albus?" Sirius asked.

"It's already quarter past noon." James added.

"Madam Rosmerta said that it may take him a while." Dumbledore calmed down his subordinates.

"Maybe he chickened out." Sirius told James loud enough for Dumbledore to hear.

"That would make sense. All students, teachers, Aurors and Order members are here. Maybe he didn't know there was a Hogsmeade weekend." James replied.

'_All students, teachers, Aurors and Order members are here.' _Sirius words started repeating again and again in Dumbledore's mind. Then, realization dawned upon him and he paled.

"Maybe he suspected a trap and backed down."

"Remus!" said the Headmaster interrupting James and Sirius' theories and earning a few glances from the students nearby. "Stay here! If he comes in apprehend him. Block the Floo when we're gone."

"But..." Remus managed to stutter before the headmaster turned to James and Sirius who were as confused as him.

"James! Sirius! With me!" he said leading them to the fireplace. "We've been played. I've been played. He wanted all of us here. We have to get back to the castle!"

Dumbledore took them to the castle through the Floo with the knowledge that he had been played. It had all been a diversionary tactic. He didn't know what the reason behind it was, but his instincts made him head to Hogwarts first to make sure it was safe.

.oOo.

Pam!

Pam!

Pam!

Harry suddenly spun around at looked at the cupboard that was blocking the fireplace. He could see dust coming out from beneath and could hear some voices, mostly swearing, at the other side. They had arrived. They had surely realised the diversion. He had to leave now. He pocketed carefully the two vials, closed the Pensieve cupboard, pocketed his Map and bolted to the door. When he got there and he was about to leave the office an explosion was heard. He turned to see pieces of wood flying around the room. The cupboard that blocked the fireplace was no longer there and three people were climbing out. James Potter was the first to see him. Harry merely waived at him tauntingly with a grin on his face and ran down the stairs.

"You!"

"Get him!" cried Dumbledore.

James and Sirius picked themselves up and started to pursue Harry. The teenage boy took the corridor that led to the staircases with his father and godfather a few yards behind. They sent him occasional stunners, which were very imprecise. It is difficult to fire accurately while sprinting. Suddenly James stopped and Sirius bumped into him.

"What the hell James!"

"He's heading to the moving staircases. Use the Charms Classroom's Corridor and then the secret passage that takes to the floor below. If you run as Padfoot you'll get to the staircases before he does. We'll trap him there. With you coming from lower floors he'll have no option but to climb to the upper floors. We'll be able to corner him there."

"Fine." said Sirius before taking a corridor to his left.

Harry realised that he had lost them and paused behind a statue a couple of seconds to catch his breath. He knew he had not outrun them. Those guys were fast. Where were they then? They must have used a secret passageway. He tapped into the Force and used it to try and detect any human presence approaching his way. He found only one. It was coming fast, and from where he had come, so he started running again towards the stairs. With luck he could make it to the stairs and to the ground floor and school grounds, or the second floor and take the entrance to the Chamber.

He arrived to the stairs many seconds later and was about to head downwards when he saw Sirius emerge from a corridor in the floor below him.

_Fuck!_

He looked back at the corridor he was coming from. James Potter was only a few yards away. He had no choice but to go to the upper floors. He did so while taking out his com unit and contacting his droid.

"R2, I need a pickup at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Keep your stealth mode on at all times."

He arrived at the door that led to the top of the Astronomy tower having gained a little distance between he and his pursuers. But nonetheless he didn't have any second to spare. He flung open the door and started climbing the stairs. When he was halfway up James and Sirius got to the stairs and started firing stunners at him while they followed him. Harry, being in a considerably higher position than them was able to dodge them effortlessly. He saw them coming from a far distance, and spells weren't known for flying extremely fast towards their targets. When he finally arrived to the top of the stairs he encountered an obstacle. The door that led outside was locked. He had his wand buried deep in his robes and would take too much time to unlock it magically, so he took out his sabre, which was always handy, and cut off the section of the door where the lock was. By now James and Sirius where less than ten five yards behind him. Harry ran to the highest point of the tower. He stopped by the fence that kept the students from falling off during their Astronomy classes having nowhere else to go. He turned around and found Sirius and James pointing their wands at him. Sirius was at his left, and James was at his right. They all formed a triangle. Harry took a calm expression and put away his sabre, as a signal that he didn't want to fight. He knew that they wouldn't hex him if he didn't give them a reason. Or at least that was what he expected. They remained silent for a few moments before Sirius started speaking.

"Harry, or whatever your name is, put that down and come with us."

Harry just smirked.

"Do it now and we will not –" added James but Harry quickly tuned him out when he heard a strange series of beeps through his earplug. It was R2, he was right below him and with the hatch open.

Harry smirked again and turned slowly to look down. There was his fighter.

"You couldn't survive that fall. There's nowhere to run." Sirius said, thinking that Harry was going to jump. "Come with us and –"

He stopped speaking when Harry confirmed what he had been thinking. He just jumped and landed gracefully in his seat. R2 managed to close the hatch and restore the invisibility systems before James and Sirius ran to the edge of the tower. When the two Marauders arrived there and looked down, they saw nothing. They should have seen him still falling, or flying away on a broom or something. No, he had simply disappeared.

They looked at each other, awestruck.

"Did he just...?" asked Sirius dumbly.

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Dunno. Let's go back to Dumbledore's Office."

.oOo.

"Get him!" cried Dumbledore.

James and Sirius picked themselves up and started to pursue Harry. Dumbledore spent more time standing up. At his age his muscles and limbs weren't as resistant as they were a few years ago. A few years ago he would have joined Sirius and James in the pursuit. He looked around at the mess that Sirius had created when blowing up the cupboard. Wooden shards as well as some of his queer trinkets, broken into many pieces, littered the floor of his office. He waved his wand and the cupboard and some of his objects repaired themselves. Some others were beyond repairing. He took a first glance around the office after returning the cupboard to its original position. All things seemed to be in place. He didn't know what this kid could possibly want from his office, but he would find out, whatever it took.

His first thought was to check his documents. He opened the secret drawer in the wall and started checking the files. Wizengamot sessions, Gringotts letters, School Documents, he didn't see anything missing. He closed it again and turned to inspect his office again. He didn't find anything out of place, until he saw the black cabinet slightly open. He was sure he had closed it carefully last time he used it. In fact, he was always careful to close it completely. There he had all his life's memories stored safely. Very few people knew about it. He wondered how Cooper knew about it. If he had taken anything from there it was a very small chance that he had found it by sheer luck. The Headmaster quickly covered the distance between him and the cabinet and pulled it open. He checked all of his recent memories and saw that they were all accounted for. He went to his desk and retrieved an old file where he had a list of all of his memories. He started looking for the most important memories he had. His battle with Grindelwald, questioning Tom Riddle about the Chamber of Secrets, the day he became Headmaster, the day he became the Wizengamot's Chief Warlock, the apprehending of Igor Karkaroff, the death of the Prewett twins, the Prophecy, Halloween 1981... _'Wait a moment!'_ he thought. The memory about the Prophecy! It wasn't there, and the one about Harry Potter's death wasn't there either. He quickly checked the rest of the cabinet but the only contents that were gone were those two. He closed the cabinet tiredly and sat down in one of his armchairs. He felt all of his years weigh heavily upon his shoulders. He was at a loss. For the first time in many decades he didn't have the slightest idea about something. He was always well informed. He felt safe and powerful knowing what was going on around him. But this boy, he had appeared out of nowhere and revolutionized the wizarding community. All British wizards had heard about him, yet no one knew anything about him.

James and Sirius came back that moment and found the Headmaster sitting in his armchair and deep in thought. The old wizard looked up at them. He had to talk to the Potters. The Prophecy, Halloween 1981, the resemblance between Cooper and James... there had to be some connection.

"Albus? Are you all right?" asked Sirius. Dumbledore was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Sirius' voice.

"Sirius, can you go and fetch Lily?" he asked and turned to James. "I have something to discuss with you two."

"What's this about Albus?" James asked concernedly as Sirius went to the fireplace to his wife. He hadn't seen the Headmaster look as old or troubled as he was now. "What's going on? Did he take anything?"

"I'll tell you once your wife gets here James. What about Cooper? Where is he?"

"We lost him. At the top of the Astronomy tower."

"How?"

"We don't know. We cornered him at the moving staircases and made him climb to the upper floors and then to the Astronomy tower. We had him trapped at top floor. We told him to surrender, but he just jumped of the tower." James explained with a confused look. Dumbledore's eyes widened when he heard he had jumped.

"We ran to the edge of the tower, but he wasn't there when we looked down. He didn't have enough time to cast a disillusionment spell, or anything for that matter, on himself before we looked down, not to mention the difficulty of doing it while falling. It looked as if he had vanished. As if he had apparated..." James told him.

"Nonsense James. You know you can't Portkey or apparate inside the school. You know that..."

"Well, that's what it looked like."

"What's going on?" came the voice of Lily Potter who had just entered the room with Sirius Black coming in behind her. "Weren't you meeting Cooper right now?"

"We've already seen each other." said Dumbledore annoyed. "Although not in the way I expected to."

"What do you mean?" she inquired taking whilst taking the place next to her husband.

"It was all a play Lils. He wasn't planning on showing up. He raided this Office instead." James explained. Lily gasped.

"What was he looking for? Is anything missing Albus?"

James, Sirius and Lily turned to the Headmaster with expectant looks on their eyes. Dumbledore sighed and straightened himself up from his chair and looked at Sirius.

"Sirius, can you leave us the room?"

"That's all right Albus, whatever you have to tell us Sirius can hear." James said.

"Yeah, he's part of the family and James will tell him later anyway." Lily added.

"No, no. It's all right." said Sirius. "I'll head down to the Three Broomsticks and inform our friends of the new situation."

"Ok Padfoot." James said.

"Thanks Sirius." Dumbledore called out while he left.

"So did he take anything?" asked James urging his former Headmaster to start talking.

"He took two memories of my Pensieve." said Dumbledore after a few moments' hesitation.

"Which ones?"

"The one from the day when I heard the Prophecy, and the one from Halloween 1981, when young Harry was abducted."

.oOo.

_Coruscant, Private Residence of the Supreme Chancellor Kalpana_

A mechanical door opened itself by sliding upwards and disappearing into the ceiling to admit two Jedi into a luminous chamber. It had enormous bay windows that lighted up the room. Behind an enormous metallic desk an old man with aristocratic mannerisms was going through many files. This man was the Supreme Chancellor Kalpana. The pair that had just entered was formed by a big human of black skin, and a short green creature that resembled a goblin, who sat in a platform that floated around. They were rumoured to be the most powerful Jedi in the entire universe, especially Master Yoda, the short and green one. The human was Master Mace Windu. The Chancellor stood up to greet them with a respectful bow. It was a rare occurrence for this to happen, for he was the most powerful person around, politically speaking of course, and he didn't have to bow to no-one, with the exception of the members of the Jedi Council. The Jedi Order was an ancient monastic peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force, specifically the light side. They were loyal to the Republic but had no legal obligations to it whatsoever. That's why they were treated with such respect by the politicians. They were one of the major guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic. To lose their support would be unacceptable.

"Greetings, Masters Jedi. I thank you for your presence here." he said in a cordial tone.

"Chancellor." said Windu returning the bow.

"Always a pleasure it is to see you, Chancellor." said Yoda in his peculiar grammar arrangements.

"Please, take a seat." he offered. "My colleagues of the Republic Senate aren't happy with how things are being managed at the Nexus programme. Although many were against it because of the huge investment that was needed, the Senate agreed to add the planet 1516 of the 2342th system of this galaxy, known as Planet Earth, in Nexus because of your personal request to do so, Master Yoda. The ones who voiced their discontent then, are rising again due to the Earth's lack of peace and political, as well as economical, stability that all Nexus planets need for their development."

"We already talked about the situation in that planet and it is being taken care of, as we promised, but there have been some unexpected draw backs, Chancellor."

"What kind of drawbacks?"

"We believe that there's a big amount of concentrated energy in the proximities of the planet. Preliminary tests told that it was safe so the Jedi Fighter that our Jedi was using to get there went right through it and reported no complications at all. However when our Jedi arrived at the planet there had apparently been a 'local' dimension swap."

"How is that possible?"

"We think that the concentrated energy he went through is the most probable cause. Right now the most brilliant minds in the republic are looking into it."

"How far behind on schedule is he?"

"Only a couple of weeks, at most. All the intel we had gathered for him is now useless."

"My colleagues are pressuring me. They want the local terrorist, Tom Marvolo Riddle aka Voldemort, taken out soon or they will vote on the withdrawal of the Earth from the programme. You have two weeks to do so. If not, I'm afraid I'll have to give in to their demands."

"We understand Chancellor." Said Yoda speaking for the first time, cutting Windu off when he was about to object to the Chancellor's final declaration. "Look into it and keep you posted we will."

"Very well gentlemen." He said before a few seconds before the exited the room.

"What do you think?" asked Mace Windu several minutes later when they were already oit of the premises.

"Pressured Chancellor Kalpana surely is. Back then my judgment without question he accepted. Thankful I am for that. Anything more from him I cannot ask. Your young apprentice, swift and fast he must be."


End file.
